Chelsea could CHOOSE whether to play in Champions League or Europa League under bonkers Uefa ruling

A BONKERS rule means Chelsea could CHOOSE between playing in the Champions League or the Europa League next season.

Chelsea will have free reign if they win the Europa Conference League (UEL) AND qualify for the Champions League (UCL) by finishing in the top five in the Premier League.

GettyChelsea could CHOOSE between playing in the Champions League or the Europa League next season[/caption] GettyEnzo Maresca’s side face Real Betis in the Europa Conference League final on May 28[/caption]

Enzo Maresca‘s side face Spanish outfit Real Betis in Europe‘s third tier final in Wroclaw, Poland on May 28.

The Conference League winners, along with getting a trophy and £5.9million in prize money, earn a qualifying spot for the following season’s Europa League.

Things get a little more complicated if that same team also earns a place in the Champions League through their domestic finish.

If favourites Chelsea win in Wroclaw and finish in the top-five in the Prem, the rules state that the club can “choose” between the UEL and UCL.

Clearly, it’s extremely unlikely that a team like Chelsea will pick anything other than the glamour and riches of the UCL, as qualifiers get £70million if they make the latter.

But the “choosing clause” exists to cover a team from one of Europe’s lower-ranked leagues winning the Conference League.

If the smaller minnow side takes up their domestic UCL place in the qualifying rounds they wouldn’t be guaranteed to play in the UEL.

So if the club feels like making the UCL league phase through qualifying is tough, they can opt to take the automatic place in the UEL phase earned by winning the Conference League.

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There is no change to the allocation of handing the Conference League winners a place in the UEL if they qualify for other European competitions.

And if Chelsea do both, they’ll inadvertently help out another Prem team compete in Europe next season.

If Maresca’s side beat Betis AND finish in a Europa League spot in the league, they will create a vacant slot since they can’t qualify twice.

That vacancy “must be either the domestic cup winner or the highest domestically ranked club from its association that has not already qualified for the league phase of the competition directly”. according to Uefa rules.

Chelsea currently sit inside the UCL places in fifth in the Prem, but face hard games against Manchester United and fellow European chasers Nottingham Forest.

The final three UCL spots will be decided in the race for the top five between Newcastle, Manchester City, Chelsea, Forest and Aston Villa.

The Prem earned five spots in the UCL next season through Uefa’s point-scoring Uefa coefficient when Arsenal beat Real Madrid 3-0 in their first quarter-final leg.

Uefa calculates the coefficient each season based on the league clubs’ results in the across the three European competitions.

EPAEnzo Fernandez is bidding for Europa Conference League glory next week[/caption]