In reply to: I am confused by your answer. posted by G.K.Chesterton
I know it's been a few years, but when Chelsea won the UCL in 2012, Tottenham was 4th and Chelsea was 6th in the League table that year.
Tottenham got bumped down to the Europa League for 2012-2013, they didn't become the 5th PL team in the UCL.
EDIT - just saw your edit about the Spuds rule. Did they change this after 2012?
I can't say that I know all of the dynamics of the situation, but the Tottenham situation likely played a part. I think the bigger factor was trying to make Europa more appealing. So the deal was to allow the Europa Champions to qualify for the Champions league and allow domestic leagues up to 5 spots in Champions. It was previously no more than 4, which is why Spuds got the shaft.
So even though their situation had nothing to do with the 2012 Europa Champions, the max of 4 was what got them into Europa not CL. It was definitely a good change - especially in light of the competition this year!
winner passage into the Champions League the following season. It made the Europa League much more interesting. I don't know how they freed up that slot.
The top 4 is so competitive, that getting into Europa is almost like kicking them while they are down.