Is Premier League still on for fifth Champions League spot?

After a terrible week in the Champions League, the Premier League bounced back on Thursday.

With Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest progressing in the Europa League, and Crystal Palace advancing in the Conference League, the extra place in next season's Champions League looks safe.

The two nations which perform best across the three competitions will be handed European Performance Spots (EPS) by Uefa.

That should now mean an extra spot for the Premier League, with fifth promoted from the Europa League to a ticket to the Champions League. Newcastle benefited this way last season.

After results picked up, here is how it is shaping up.

ENGLAND

Even though four teams have been knocked out this week, it is all but certain that the Premier League will get an extra place.

England (24.791) already has a coefficient score bigger than last season's second-placed country (Spain, 23.892).

Just one draw is now needed for the Premier League to mathematically get over the line.

Only Portugal and Spain can now overtake England.

And all three of Portugal's remaining teams would need to get to the finals of the Champions League and Europa League.

SPAIN

The Spanish league is in second place and now looks pretty sure to have five teams again.

La Liga has more teams left in Europe (six) than any other league.

GERMANY

Germany has only three teams still active, half that of Spain, meaning it is very improbable that it will take second place.

But there are a couple of Germany v Spain ties in the quarter-finals.

In the Champions League, Bayern Munich take on Real Madrid. In the Europa League it is Freiburg v Celta Vigo.

PORTUGAL

Portugal's chances of making the top two were severely damaged by Santa Clara being knocked out of the Conference League in the qualifying rounds.

Had it competed with a full compliment of teams in the league phase it would have been a strong contender.

As it is, all three of its clubs will need to go very deep to have any chance of finishing above Spain.

ITALY

Serie A has lost five of its seven teams and now only has a slim mathematical chance of making second place.

No other country is able to make the top two.

To work out who are the successful nations, Uefa takes into consideration the overall performance of clubs in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League.

It creates an average by taking the total coefficient score and dividing it by the number of clubs each league has in European competition.

So let's say the Premier League has a total score of 185. Divide that by nine clubs and you get an average of 20.56.

The top two leagues in the table get an extra place in the Champions League.

Each win - regardless of the competition - is worth two coefficient points, with a draw worth one.

The key differential is in bonus points awarded based on clubs' finishing positions in the league phase and knockout rounds, as these are much higher in the Champions League.

By way of an example, the teams that finish 25th-36th in the Champions League got six bonus points - even though they were eliminated.

Yet the team which finished top of the Conference League table - Strasbourg - received just four points.

Bonus points for progressing through the knockout rounds are also weighted. In the Champions League it is 1.5, Europa League 1, and Conference League 0.5.

This means it is almost certain that one of the top European leagues will get the extra places each season, because they have more clubs in the Champions League.

Premier League leaders Arsenal (70 points) are nine points ahead of Manchester City (61) and both teams are looking nailed on for the Champions League qualification.

Manchester United (54) are third, ahead of Aston Villa (51).

Right now, the extra place in the Champions League would go to fifth-placed Liverpool (49).

Clubs are then lining up to try to get into the top five. Chelsea (48) are just behind in sixth place, followed by Brentford (45), Everton (43) and Newcastle (42).

This article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team.