Five Clubs in Champions League: How One Extra Team Can Qualify in Crucial European Week

• Two leagues will have one extra spot in next season's UEFA Champions League
• Tottenham, Aston Villa and Newcastle are among the teams that could benefit
• Sports Brief details the process before crucial second legs in decisive matches

The Premier League experienced an interesting twist this past weekend in the race for the Premier League title.

Whilst the three main contenders hogged all the headlines after uncharacteristic slips from Arsenal and Liverpool, the chasing pack also recorded significant results as the hunt for the remaining guaranteed Champions League spot heats up.

Newcastle United's 4-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur was as surprising as Aston Villa's win at the Emirates. The Magpies' huge win saw them jump to sixth place, but they are still 10 points adrift of Ange Postecoglou's men.

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Ahead of the second-leg fixtures of the European quarter-finals, attention will shift to whether England can secure an extra spot in next season's revamped Champions League.

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The new format will have the option of two leagues producing one extra team based on the coefficients of the teams compared to other leagues.

The coefficients will be based on this campaign, which, in other words, means the further the teams go in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League, the better they boost their chances of getting the spot.

As it stands, England's hopes for this took a significant hit last week after Liverpool was embarrassed 3-0 by Atalanta, while West Ham trail newly-crowned Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen 2-0. Arsenal and Manchester City got draws against Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, while Aston Villa lead Lille 2-1.

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This leaves England behind Italy and Germany in the race for the spots. Italy's lead is certain to improve given that there are guaranteed points from the AC Milan vs AS Roma game. Serie A can get the spot mathematically as early as this week if Atalanta don't lose to Liverpool and Fiorentina beat Victoria Plzen.

How are the coefficients calculated?

As explained on the Premier League website, each league earns two points for every win in the three competitions, while a draw gets one point. There are no points for defeat.

As the teams progress, bonus points are awarded based on the stage and the competition. These points are then totalled and divided by the clubs that started the competitions to get the coefficient average of the league.

England have five remaining teams, while Germany have three, Leverkusen, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund who need to overcome a 2-1 deficit against Atletico Madrid.

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Players who will miss second-leg fixtures

Sports Brief has also reported that Aurelien Tchouameni leads the list of players who will miss the second-leg fixtures due to suspensions.

The Real Madrid midfielder picked up his third yellow card of the campaign in the three-all draw against Manchester City at the Santiago Bernabeu last week.

He joins Barcelona duo Sergi Roberto and Andreas Christensen, Bayern Munich's Alphonso Davies and Atletico Madrid's Samuel Lino.