Manchester City will play in the Champions League next season, after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) overturned their two-year ban from European football.
The decision means Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal will now have to take the remaining last three games more serious.
First, it means that only two Champions League slots are available in England now, with champions Liverpool and City already qualified.
Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat to Tottenham on Sunday, now means they cannot qualify for Europe’s biggest club competition officially.
However, Manchester United can make a late run for the top four places, if they continue their fine run of form with a win over Southampton on Monday night.
Chelsea were humiliated 3-0 by Sheffield United last week, but Leicester’s 4-1 defeat against Bournemouth has given them fresh optimism.
The Foxes are now obvious candidates to drop out of the race for Champions League places altogether, especially with their tricky run-in.
UEFA’s club financial control body handed City the suspension in February, over “serious breaches” of club licensing and Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations.
The former Premier League champions strongly denied any wrongdoing and appealed the decision at CAS last month.
After hearing evidence over the course of three days in June, CAS has now overturned the suspension.
A statement from City on Monday read: “Whilst Manchester City and its legal advisors are yet to review the full ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the Club welcomes the implications of today’s ruling as a validation of the Club’s position and the body of evidence that it was able to present.
“The Club wishes to thank the panel members for their diligence and the due process that they administered.”
Their proposed €30 million fine has been reduced to €10 million, with the CAS claiming “it was not appropriate to impose a ban on participating in UEFA’s club competitions for MCFC’s failure to cooperate.”
They believe City “did not disguise equity funding as sponsorship contributions but did fail to cooperate with the UEFA authorities.”
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