Who will qualify for the 2025-26 Champions League? Inside the epic battles to secure spots among Europe's elite

With Liverpool having opened up an unassailable 15-point lead at the top of the table last Sunday, and the relegation of Ipswich Town, Leicester City and Southampton already confirmed, Premier League followers are extremely grateful for the fact that there are still Champions League spots still up for grabs.

Of course, Arsenal (67 points) should finish second, even if their ongoing involvement in continental competition has affected their domestic form of late. However, that still leaves three berths up for grabs, given England's top five all qualify for next season's Champions League.

Third-placed Newcastle (62) have been in fine form since stunning Liverpool to win the Carabao Cup, which led to an incredible release of tension on Tyneside, but Eddie Howe's men have a rough run-in, including trips to the Amex and the Emirates. Manchester City (61), by contrast, don't have any difficult games left - at least on paper - and Pep Guardiola undoubtedly has the strongest squad to choose from, particularly after the state-sponsored club's January spending spree.

Fifth-placed Chelsea (60) are hanging in there in spite of Cole Palmer's dreadful dip in productivity, while surprise package Nottingham Forest (60) can climb from sixth to third if they win their game in hand against Brentford on Thursday.

Aston Villa (57) down in seventh shouldn't be written off just yet, but Unai Emery's men have had the wind knocked out of them by devastating setbacks against PSG in the Champions League, Manchester City in the Premier League and Crystal Palace in the FA Cup.

Things are getting very interesting in Germany, with both RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund in real danger of failing to qualify for next season's Champions League.

Freiburg are the main reason why, with Julian Schuster's surprise challengers clinging on to fourth spot with 51 points after recovering from a poor run of results by winning three games on the spin. However, they're still only two points ahead of Leipzig (49), and just three clear of Dortmund (48), going into Sunday's clash with second-placed Bayer Leverkusen.

On the plus side, Xabi Alonso's men might not have anything to play for at the Europa-Park Stadion if Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich win at the Red Bull Arena the day before - which would obviously also represent a big boost to Freiburg's hopes of holding off Leipzig.

Dortmund, though, are the real dangermen. They host Wolfsburg at Signal Iduna Park on Saturday evening, meaning Niko Kovac's resurgent side could be level on points with Freiburg by the time they take to the field to face Leverkusen. BVB still have to travel to the BayArena themselves, but they're finishing the season strongly (13 points from their last five games) and will be confident of capitalising on any slip-up from Freiburg, whom they've hammered both home and away this season.

Looking slightly further down the table, Mainz (47) are still in contention, in theory, but their form has fallen off a cliff over the past month, and while Werder Bremen (46) are going really well now, they may have left it just a tad too late to crash the top-four party. Still, things could get very interesting if they were to beat Leipzig at home on matchday 33, the penultimate weekend of the season...

The situation in Serie A is simply insane. With just four rounds remaining, there are just three points separating Juventus (62) in the final Champions League spot in fourth, and eight-placed Fiorentina (59).

As one of the biggest clubs in Italy, the Bianconeri would normally be favourites to get over the line. However, it's been a trying season for the Old Lady, who sacked Thiago Motta in March and replaced him with Igor Tudor, and their next couple of games are away from home against two of their top-four rivals, in Bologna (fifth, with 61 points) and Lazio (seventh with 60).

Roma, meanwhile,sit sixth (also 60 points) and are arguably the form team in Serie A right now, with Claudio Ranieri's side unbeaten in the league since before Christmas. The Giallorossi don't have any particularly straightforward fixtures, but they upset Inter at San Siro last weekend and beating Fiorentina at home on Sunday would only add to their momentum.

It's also worth noting that Roma go to Bergamo on May 12 to face third-placed Atalanta, who are only three points above Juve, meaning Gian Piero Gasperini's men could yet get swallowed up by the chasing pack, thus turning this into a titanic six-team tussle for two Champions League berths.

PSG's fourth-consecutive Ligue 1 title may have been in the bag before the season even began, but it's looking like the fight for a top-four finish will go right until the final weekend, as there's just a four-point gap between Marseille (58) in second and Strasbourg in seventh (54).

The presumption all along was that Roberto De Zerbi's side would finish as runners-up, but that's no longer a given whatsoever, particularly as OM must travel to the Stade Pierre-Mauroy on Sunday to face third-placed Lille (56), who have won four of their last five games.

Monaco (55) and Lyon (54), in fourth and fifth, respectively, also remain very much in the mix, and the outcome of their showdown at the Stade Louis II on matchday 33 could well prove decisive.

The team to really keep an eye on, though, is sixth-placed Nice (54), as the only team to have beaten PSG this season have a relatively soft set of fixtures - at least compared to their rivals - and could easily force their way into the top four before the season's end...

There are still five rounds remaining in La Liga, but we can probably safely say that four of Spain's five Champions League places are done and dusted.

Title challengers Barcelona and Real Madrid have actually already qualified, while third-placed Atletico Madrid are as good as through. Athletic Club still have a bit of work to do, but the Basques are a good bet to finish fourth, as they're six points ahead of Real Betis in sixth.

Still, while Manuel Pellegrini's men might not have it in them to overhaul Athletic, they've got every chance of pipping Villarreal to the final spot. The pair are separated by a solitary point right now, with the Yellow Submarine in possession of the slenderest of advantages.

It is Betis who are in slightly better form, though, and the Andalusians will probably believe themselves capable of winning four of their last five games. The issue is, though, that one of those games is against Atletico at the Metropolitano. However, the good news is that Villarreal must play Barcelona away on the same matchday, meaning this two-horse race could be set for a photo finish.

In Portugal, all eyes are firmly fixed on a cracking title race between Sporting CP and Benfica, with the two Lisbon rivals locked together at the top of the table on 75 points apiece. It gets better, too, as the pair are set to collide at the Estadio da Luz on the penultimate weekend of the season in a game that will likely decide the championship. The odds slightly favour Sporting as it stands, as they beat Benfica at the Jose Alvalade Stadium earlier this season, so a draw could well end up winning them the league via a superior head-to-head record.

All of this is a complete irrelevance to Porto, though. The other member of Portugal's 'Big Three' have had another poor year and the two-time European Cup winners are already out of the running to qualify for the Champions League. Worse still, they might not even go directly into the Europa League league stage as they're presently two points behind third-placed Braga.

Over in the Netherlands, another former European champion is locked in a serious struggle for Champions League football. Feyenoord have endured an incredibly topsy-turvy campaign since losing Slot to Liverpool last summer. The Rotterdam outfit did upset AC Milan on their way to the last 16 of the Champions League, but Brian Friske was sacked in February because of the team's dreadful domestic form.

The Dane's successor as permanent boss, club legend Robin van Persie, has seen a dramatic upturn in results and Feyenoord are now occupying the Eredeivisie's third and final UCL spotbehind Ajax and PSV. However, they're only ahead of Utrecht on goal difference as it stands, even if Ron Jans' side have played a game more.

In neighbouring Belgium, Club Brugge, who enjoyed a remarkable run to the last 16 of this year's Champions League, are duking it out with Union Ssint-Gilloise and Genk for the Pro League title - as well as two UCL berths.

In Turkey, though, we already know the identity of the country's Champions League qualifiers: Galatasaray and Fenerbahce. It also looks like the former will claim a third consecutive title, as they have a five-point lead over Jose Mourinho's men with five games to go.