Every year there is at least one huge club that gets dumped out of the Champions League and into the Europa League.
It can lead to match-ups that we never thought we’d see, such as West Ham United almost having the chance to play Barcelona in last season’s tournament.
Such things could happen again this season, so here are all the teams dropping into the Europa League and who could be joining them after Matchday 6 in the Champions League is done.
So far after five games, only two teams are confirmed to have dropped into the Europa League from the Champions League. It isn’t a great look for La Liga, as they are Barcelona and Sevilla.
Barcelona were lumped in with Bayern Munich and Inter which meant qualification would always be tough. The fourth team was Viktoria Plzen who have lost all five games and will be last in the group.
Barcelona started by beating Plzen and losing to Bayern, and Inter did the same. That meant the double header against the Italians was crucial. The Blaugrana lost 1-0 in Milan and drew 3-3 at Camp Nou. From that moment, they were fighting a losing battle.
They had to sit and watch Inter get the win over Viktoria Plzen that they needed to assure qualification in the early kick-off, before then going and getting beaten 3-0 by Bayern, already in the knowledge that they were out of the Champions League.
As for Sevilla, their poor start to the season before sacking Julien Lopetegui meant that they had too much work to do in order to qualify. They could still finish level on points with Borussia Dortmund, but the inferior head-to-head record means they will still be headed to the Europa League.
There are a lot of very tight groups heading into the final matchday which is why 15 different teams are either at risk of dropping down or attempting to secure a Europa League spot as a best-possible outcome. There are some big hitters too, such as Juventus, Atletico Madrid, AC Milan and Tottenham.
Group A
This group is as close as possible to being decided in relation to who comes third, without being mathematically over. Ajax are third on three points, Rangers are bottom with zero.
They play each other on the final day which means the best Rangers can do is win to level the points and head-to-head record, and then go through on goal difference by winning 6-0 at Ibrox.
Group B
Atletico Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen are fighting for third place in Group B. The Spanish side have five points, and the German side have four. Atletico just need to beat or match Leverkusen’s result. Diego Simeone’s side are away at Porto whilst Leverkusen host Club Brugge.
If Atleti lose and Leverkusen draw with Club Brugge, they would both have five points but the Germans would go through on head-to-head.
Group D
You might want to get your own pad and pen for this one. All four teams in Group D can go into the Europa League. The current state of play is; Tottenham are top with eight, Sporting second with seven, Eintracht Frankfurt third with seven, and Marseille fourth with six.
The most likely way for Spurs to drop down is if they lose to Marseille and Sporting-Eintracht ends in a draw. That would see Marseille top the group, Sporting stay second due to their superior head-to-head-record over Spurs, and Spurs remain above Eintracht due to the head-to-head record there.
If Spurs and Eintracht both win, Sporting would be in the Europa League. If Spurs and Sporting both win, Eintracht go into the Europa League.
Marseille can go third, if they draw with Spurs and then Eintracht beat Sporting. Marseille have a better head-to-head over Sporting so being level on points with the Portuguese would see Marseille move to third.
Honestly though, with this group, just enjoy the drama and let the live table do the work for you.
Group E
This group isn’t a great deal simpler than Group D. AC Milan are on seven, RB Salzburg are on six, and Dinamo Zagreb are on four.
Milan face Salzburg at San Siro and just need to draw or win to stay in the Champions League. Dinamo Zagreb meanwhile need to beat Chelsea to have any chance of the Europa League and hope Milan beat Salzburg.
If Milan lose, they are definitely in the Europa League regardless of what Dinamo Zagreb do as the head-to-head record means the Croatians can only overtake Salzburg.
Group F
Only RB Leipzig and Shakhtar Donetsk can end up in the Europa League from this group.
Leipzig are on nine points and Shakhtar are on six, but head-to-head superiority means that a win for the Ukrainian side will see them push Leipzig into the Europa League.
Group H
This group also has just two teams fighting for the Europa League spot.
Juventus and Maccabi Haifa are both on three points, with a level head-to-head record. Juve’s goal difference is better though so they just need to match the Israeli side’s result. The catch is that Juve are playing Paris Saint-Germain, whilst Maccabi Haifa play Benfica.