Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso had bad news for David Moyes after insisting there are no lingering hangovers from their historic Bundesliga title celebrations.

Leverkusen clinched the first title in the club’s history when they beat Werder Bremen 5-0 on Sunday.

But their attention is now focused on defending a 2-0 lead in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final at West Ham.

Hammers boss Moyes admitted he hoped the Leverkusen players might have indulged in a few too many steins of German beer.

But Alonso revealed: “A few of them, probably. But not too many. We had control.

“For sure it was a moment to enjoy it. On Sunday we knew we had a chance so we took one day, in case of winning, to enjoy it.

“But from Tuesday our mind has been focused on West Ham. Now it’s the Europa League and we have a great chance to make a great season even better.

“The commitment, the way we’ve trained, give me reasons to believe we will play well tomorrow.

“We have big challenges ahead. West Ham have good players, they have recent experience of beating Freiburg. We need to put in our best performance.

“I don’t have any feeling that our mentality will be any different from the one that has given us this chance to reach the quarter-final.”

Former Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka managed to achieve what Harry Kane could not do by winning the title in his first season in Germany.

Kane’s switch from Tottenham to Bayern Munich was expected to end in Bundesliga glory but his new side have been left trailing in Leverkusen’s wake.

“Before you transfer to another country you speak with the club and the coach about the plan and the philosophy,” said Xhaka.

“But of course how we are playing is unbelievable, more than people were thinking before the season. I’m proud to be a part of this team.”

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UEFA coefficient: Which two countries will earn extra Champions League spot?
The race for Champions League qualification is heating up across Europe
Two European leagues will be handed an extra qualifying spot for the 2024/25 competition
England currently don't have a high enough coefficient ranking for an extra place

By Ewan Ross-Murray
Apr 17, 2024
There are extra Champions League spots to be had this season
There are extra Champions League spots to be had this season / Visionhaus/GettyImages
Qualifying for the Champions League remains the priority for a whole host of European giants at the beginning of each season, but things may have been made slightly easier this year.

With Europe's premier competition changing its format and expanding from 32 teams, there are two extra qualifying spots to play for in some of the top divisions on the continent. Which leagues will be handed those places depends on the respective UEFA coefficient rankings of various nations.

Those coefficient rankings relate to the performances of clubs in UEFA competitions this season, with only the two countries with the highest coefficients earning the extra qualifying spots.

Let's take a closer look at next season's Champions League format, as well as the current UEFA coefficient rankings.

How many teams qualify for the 2024/25 Champions League?
With the Champions League's format change comes an expansion of the tournament, with 36 teams participating in the competition from the 2024/25 season onwards - four more than the current number of participants.

Despite their being four extra clubs in next season's competition, only two extra spots will be handed out to European leagues based on their coefficient.

For example, if England finishes with one of the best two overall coefficient rankings for the 2023/24 season, five teams will qualify for next year's Champions League from the Premier League instead of the current four.

A country's coefficient depends on the performances of that nation's participants in UEFA competitions. Ideally, countries want their clubs in European tournaments for as long as possible as it gives them a better chance of climbing the coefficient table.

Current 2023/24 UEFA coefficient table
Ranking

Country

Coefficient

1.

Italy

18.428

2.

Germany

16.785

3.

England

16.750

4.

Spain

15.062

5.

France

14.750

Serie A is almost certain of an extra Champions League spot next season due to their coefficient total, while the Bundesliga will be given another European place as things stand. Borussia Dortmund's qualification for the final four of the Champions League certainly boosted Germany's coefficient, and they will currently take one of the additional spots alongside AS Roma.

It's bad news for the likes of Tottenham and Manchester United as the Premier League currently sits third in the coefficient rankings. There is still time for that to change, although Manchester City and Arsenal's quarter-final eliminations from the Champions League, as well as Liverpool's 3-0 home defeat to Atalanta in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie, didn't help matters.

Both Spain and France look unlikely to secure an extra space, but they are not out of the running completely.

What is the new Champions League format for 2024/25?
As previously stated, the 2024/25 Champions League will see 36 teams compete, but that's not the only change. The group stage has been done away with and replaced by a single league table, with teams in the competition playing eight times during the league phase.

Half of those games will be home and the other half away, with fixtures determined by clubs being seeded in four different pots. Each team will play two sides from each pot, with one home and away fixture against a club from each pot.

The teams that finish in the top eight in the league phase automatically qualify for the last 16, while teams from ninth to 24th will compete in a two-legged knockout playoff. Teams from ninth to 16th will face sides from 17th to 24th in this play-off.

From the round of 16 onwards, the competition will be unchanged from its current format.

Full breakdown of 36 spots available for 2024/25 Champions League
Route / Qualify from

Places Available

2023/24 Champions League winner

1

2023/24 Europa League winner

1

England, Spain, Germany, Italy

4 (x4)

France

3

Netherlands

2

Portugal, Belgium, Scotland, Austria

1 (x4)

European Performance Spots

2

Qualifying rounds - champions path

5

Qualifying rounds - league path

2

Total

36

Can six teams from one country qualify for the Champions League?
The short answer is yes, If a team from one of the nations with one of the top two coefficients were to win the Europa League but fail to qualify for the Champions League domestically, then their respective league could have six teams represented next season.

For example, if Roma were to win this season's Europa League and finish outside the top five in Serie A, then they would join the Italian teams that qualified for the Champions League domestically in next season's competition - providing Italy have one of the two highest coefficients.

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Rafael Leao ready to make his mark as AC Milan look to beat Roma

Rafael Leao is determined to silence his critics when AC Milan seek to overturn a 1-0 deficit in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final against Roma.

Leao came in for criticism after last week’s first match, but showed a much better version of himself as Milan fought back from two goals down to take a 3-3 draw at relegation-battling Sassuolo on Sunday.

The 24-year-old forward, who scored Milan’s first goal, recognises he needs to bring more consistency to his game.

“I hope to help my team,” Leao told Milan TV.

“If I don’t score a goal, I hope to play well and win. This is the most important thing, to move forward.

“After the first leg, where I didn’t do very well, I was disappointed and with Sassuolo I wanted to give the right answer. If I make a mistake, I always try to come back even stronger, to learn from my mistakes.

“I found the joy of doing well and helping my team-mates. I want to play better now. We know the comeback is possible. We have to start strong, try to score in the first few minutes and then play like a final.”

Goalkeeper Mike Maignan is expected to return in goal after sitting out Sunday’s match as a precaution, but Simon Kjaer is a doubt after suffering a muscle injury in that match. Both he and fellow defender Pierre Kalulu missed training on Wednesday.

Gianluca Mancini struck in the 17th minute as Roma took an impressive 1-0 victory at the San Siro last week, carrying on their good form since Daniele De Rossi replaced Jose Mourinho in the hotseat.

The 2022 Europa Conference League champions came ever so close to making it back-to-back titles after they were defeated on penalties in last year’s Europa League showpiece and are 90 minutes away from another semi-final.

But De Rossi knows AC Milan are far from beaten as they prepare for the second leg in Rome.

As quoted on romapress.net, he said: “Milan? They will fight with everything they have. This is their last resort, they want to win and achieve one of their objectives for the season. It will be difficult.

“There are characteristics of the opponent that must always be respected and you need to think about the opponent’s coach’s moves. The first leg with Milan was quite balanced, perhaps it went a little better for us. Milan won’t change their tactics too much, but we must not overthink our own gameplan.

“We will prepare the match to win it, to try to score a goal which would be a blow for them even if it might not be decisive.

“Milan are a very strong team, they are better than us, but in the first leg we showed that we are not that much inferior and I told my team that we can play for it. We are one step away from an important milestone such as a European semi-final.”