Eddie Howe
Eddie Howe
English sides lead the way with their performances in Europe this season - and the prospect of an extra Champions League place has given Newcastle United an added incentive to attack the second half of the season.
Two extra seats at Europe's top table will again be awarded to the countries who have the most collective success in the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League this season. England currently top the coefficient table - Liverpool, Arsenal and Aston Villa have already had some strong results in the Champions League - but the picture will only become clearer in the final weeks of the campaign.
Newcastle lie just two points off fifth and four points off fourth, and the black-and-whites will just want to finish as high as possible rather than relying on others. However, ahead of facing Aston Villa on Boxing Day, Howe was asked if the potential of a fifth-placed finish being rewarded with a spot in the Champions League offered further motivation for his side.
"Yeah," he said. "That's linked to the answer I’ve just given. Success on the pitch is everything. We said last year that we wanted European football in any respect but, of course, the Champions League is the one that everyone wants more than anything else.
"We will give our best to have the best season that we can. I don’t see any reason why we can’t be very successful this year.
"You need a bit of luck in terms of injuries and keeping the squad together, but the team looks really good at the moment. The balance is strong. We just want the games to come and to win as many as we can."
As well as helping the club attract players, returning to the Champions League would give Newcastle a huge financial boost. Qualification alone is worth £18.6m (£15.43m) in the new Swiss style format and each win in the league phase brings in €2.1m (£1.74m). Even a draw is worth €700,000 (£334,000).
Clubs who finish in the top eight of the league phase stand to take home an additional €2m (£1.66m) while those who place between ninth and 16th will receive half that. Reaching the last 16 is worth €11m (£9.13m)