Barça still in the running

Last remaining place
Valencia can finish no higher than fifth in Spain's Primera División after yesterday's 3-0 defeat by Barcelona who are now contesting the remaining UEFA Cup place with Athletic Club Bilbao with one round of matches to play. Barcelona - who have never before failed to qualify for European competition - face RC Celta de Vigo next weekend, when Athletic visit title-chasing Real Madrid CF. RC Recreativo de Huelva or RCD Mallorca will dispute the third and final spot in the cup final on 28 June.

Esbjerg berth secured
Places are also up for grabs in Denmark where only Esbjerg fB have so far guaranteed their berth. Denmark have been offered a Fair Play place in the competition, which will go to Esbjerg if they fail to hold on to third place in the Superliga, which would also send them into the competition.

Midtjylland may benefit
If cup winners and league leaders Brøndby IF hold off FC København's challenge, they will enter the UEFA Champions League and their UEFA place will go the beaten cup finalists, FC Midtjylland. In Ukraine, meanwhile, the UEFA Cup places will go to two from FC Metalurh Donetsk, FC Arsenal Kyiv and FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. The league's top two sides, FC Dynamo Kyiv and FC Shakhtar Donetsk, contested the cup final but both will play in the Champions League.

Access list
Included on the access list for the competition are the three UEFA Intertoto Cup winners - all of whom gain first-round entry - together with three Fair Play entrants, who must compete in the qualifying round. Besides the Danish representative, RC Lens and Manchester City FC are the other two teams entering the UEFA Cup via the Fair Play route.

Champions League losers
In addition to these teams, the 16 losing sides in the Champions League third qualifying round will enter the competition in the first round, and the eight third-placed teams in the Champions League group stage will join in the third round. The teams highlighted in bold below have already made certain of their place.