Aston Villa and other English sides have so far performed very impressively in Europe this season - that'll aid their cause to qualify again
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Aston Villa's Leon Bailey celebrates scoring
Aston Villa's Leon Bailey celebrates scoring
Aston Villa secured an excellent win away from home in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie against Club Brugge on Tuesday evening - but they weren't alone in being an English team who headed out into the continent last week and claiming a crucial victory.
Villa emerged 3-1 victors thanks to Leon Bailey, an own goal and a Marco Asensio penalty which leaves them extremely well placed ahead of the second leg at Villa Park on Tuesday. Avoid defeat and they'll line up against either Liverpool or Paris Saint Germain in the quarter finals of the competition.
Liverpool are favourites to progress; despite largely being outplayed in Paris on Wednesday night, the Red sneaked a 1-0 lead thanks to Harvey Elliot's late winner and PSG will need to turn the tables in unenviable circumstances at Anfield this coming week.
Arsenal, later on Tuesday, stuck seven past PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands to all but secure their own place in the quarters, while on Thursday Chelsea won in Copenhagen in the Conference League and Manchester United will take a 1-1 draw back to Old Trafford for their second leg with Real Sociedad.
Despite Tottenham Hotspur being the only English side to suffer defeat - they narrowly lost 1-0 to AZ Alkmaar but are still very much in with a shout of progressing via their home leg - English sides have generally performed very well in the knock-out stages across European competitions this past week and are well placed to progress into the latter stages.
While Villa will of course focus only on Villa, strong performances from their fellow Premier League sides will help the top flight's cause when it comes to UEFA's coefficient rankings.
The coefficient rankings as it stands:
1. England, 22.178 - (6/7 teams remaining in European competitions)
2. Spain, 19.892 - (6/7)
3. Italy, 18.937 - (4/8)
4. Germany, 16.671 - (4/8)
5. Portugal, 16.250 - (2/5)
6. France, 15.285 - (3/7)
7. Belgium, 15.250 - (2/5)
8. Netherlands, 15.083 - (4/6)
9. Greece, 12.187 - (2/4)
10. Czechia, 10.812 - (1/5)
Two European leagues will be rewarded with an extra place in the continent's biggest club competition, based on performances this season. The collective success of all teams taking part in the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League affects the all-important coefficient scores for each country, which determines who the extra places are dished out to.
Each win is worth two coefficient points, a draw gets you one point, and you get nothing for a defeat. All points gained by one country are added together and then divided by the number of clubs they have in Europe in that season to work out each nation's average coefficient. Manchester City are the only English side who have bowed out of Europe this term.
Villa can strengthen their own hand by seeing off Club Brugge next week and, while they face plenty of competition in order to qualify for a second straight year in Europe's elite competition, a fifth placed finish - where fourth was a necessity last year - is expected to be enough.
Where will Villa finish this season? Tell us HERE