Following a dramatic final day of the 2024–25 English Premier League season—marked by late goals, shocking twists, and emotional farewells—the European picture for the 2025–26 campaign is now crystal clear.
As the dust settles, the combination of league standings and continental triumphs has confirmed which Premier League clubs will represent England on the European stage next season.
UEFA Champions League
A record six Premier League sides will feature in next season’s UEFA Champions League. Five teams booked their places through league positions, while a sixth earned qualification by lifting a European trophy, adding an extra English name to the competition.
*Liverpool – Arne Slot’s debut season couldn’t have ended on a higher note, as his side clinched the Premier League title with a commanding campaign, sealing a triumphant return to the UEFA Champions League.
*Arsenal – Mikel Arteta’s men pushed the title race to the wire, finishing as runners-up after a composed and consistent finish to the season, locking in another year of top-tier European football.
*Manchester City– It wasn’t the smoothest ride for Pep Guardiola’s team, but a crucial final-day win over Fulham ensured they held onto third place, extending their remarkable run of Champions League qualifications.
*Chelsea – A resurgent run under new boss Enzo Maresca propelled the Blues into fourth place, capped off by a decisive win over Nottingham Forest. The late-season surge secured their long-awaited return to the UEFA Champions League.
*Newcastle United – Despite slipping to defeat on the final day, the Magpies edged out Aston Villa for fifth place thanks to a superior goal difference, sealing a Champions League spot in dramatic fashion.
*Tottenham Hotspur – Ange Postecoglou’s side may have fallen short in the league, but their triumph in the UEFA Europa League final granted them direct passage to next season’s Champions League, making up for their domestic shortcomings.
UEFA Europa League
*Crystal Palace – In one of the season’s most stunning stories, the Eagles lifted the FA Cup to book their spot in the Europa League. It’s a landmark achievement for the South London club and their first major trophy in decades.
*Aston Villa – After tasting Champions League football this season, Unai Emery’s team couldn’t quite replicate that success in the league. They finished sixth, but will look to mount a serious challenge in the Europa League next term.
UEFA Conference League
Nottingham Forest – It wasn’t the European journey they dreamed of, but Forest ended the season with a place in the UEFA Conference League—a notable return to continental competition after a campaign full of ups, downs, and narrow escapes.
If Liverpool come through their tie, they will face either Benfica or Marseille in the semi-finals, with West Ham meeting AC Milan or Roma if they find a way past Bundesliga leaders Leverkusen.
The semi-finals are scheduled for 2 May and 9 May.
Dublin Arena in the Republic of Ireland hosts this season’s final on Wednesday, 22 May.
Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante will miss the second leg of their UEFA Europa League semi-final fixture against Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday, manager Maurizio Sarri said on Wednesday.
He also faces a further two weeks out with a hamstring problem.
France international Kante left the field early in the first half of last Sunday’s 3-0 English Premier League (EPL) win over Watford.
Sarri later said after the game that the decision not to rest the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner was a mistake.
Chelsea, who drew the first leg at Eintracht Frankfurt 1-1, are hopeful the 28-year-old can feature if they reach the final of Europe’s second-tier club competition on May 29.
“He had a problem with his hamstring. It is not very serious but he needs to rest for a couple of weeks,” Sarri told reporters.
“We can try to recover him for only the final match if we get there. I’m not sure if he can, but we can try.”
Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who could fill in for Kante again, said Chelsea will not take their foot off the gas in spite of sealing a top-four league finish and Champions League qualification.
“We won’t be relaxed tomorrow (Thursday), and we have the Champions League qualification. But we have the chance to win a trophy and that will be stupid to go into the match in a relaxed manner,” Loftus-Cheek said.
Sarri echoed the views of the England international but warned his players of the danger posed by the German side.
“I think we have reached the target of the club, so we’re very happy. We have to play in another competition. We have to reach the final and try to win,” the Italian added.
“It’s not easy because we have to play a dangerous team as we saw in the first leg. They’re dynamic and aggressive and when they can find spaces, it’s a dangerous match.
“You have to play a semi-final against a strong team and it’s difficult to be favourite. I’m sure tomorrow (Thursday) they can play at their best… we need to be careful.”
It was goal thrillers in some of the Europa matches played on Thursday
Theo Walcott scored twice and Olivier Giroud notched his 100th Arsenal goal as the Londoners notched a second successive Europa League win, 4-2, at BATE Borisov.
After 10 minutes, Wenger’s side had the advantage when Jack Wilshere burst into the box and Theo Walcott’s header was half-stopped by Denis Scherbitski before he made sure from point-blank range.
The home side burst into life after 20 minutes when Giroud lost possession and Mirko Ivanic shot narrowly wide from outside the box when a cross was half cleared.
Within three minutes, however, they were two down as Walcott struck again, accepting a gift when Scherbitski’s terrible attempt to pass the ball out of his area gave him the chance to roll a finish inside the post.
After 25 minutes it was 3-0 when Borisov failed to deal with the resulting corner and Per Mertesacker’s header went in off Rob Holding for his first Arsenal goal.
But out of the blue Borisov pulled one back within two minutes, Alexei Rios sending in a good cross from the right that was headed home by Ivanic.
Three minutes into the second half, Giroud had his landmark goal and Arsenal their fourth when what looked like the softest of penalty awards for a challenge by Stanislav Dragun on Shkodran Mustafi gave him the chance to roll home from the penalty spot.
And with a little over 20 minutes remaining, the hosts were on the scoresheet again, Mikhail Gordeichuk taking advantage of defensive confusion to hammer home from close range.
They should have made it 4-3 only for Aliaksandr Volodko, unmarked near the penalty spot, to blaze a first-time effort over the top.
But as the game entered its final 10 minutes, Borisov’s belief faded and Giroud and Wilshere threatened to add further goals for Arsenal.
Everton failed to hold their late lead against Apollon at Goodison Park, despite the visitors being reduced to 10 men.
Everton were pegged back late by 10-man Apollon Limassol to remain at the foot of the Group E table after a 2-2 draw at Goodison Park.
Wayne Rooney cancelled out Adrian Sardinero’s 12th-minute opener in the 21st, when he ran onto an awful back-pass to Apollon keeper Bruno Vale and finished into the empty net.
Nikola Vlasic’s goal looked to have given Ronald Koeman’s men their first points of the campaign, and the win looked further cemented when Valentin Roberge was send off four minutes from time.
However, Hector Yuste snatched the equaliser for the visitors just two minutes later, heading home Joao Pedro’s cross from a set piece much to the dismay of the Goodison faithful.
Rijeka fought back late at the San Siro, but Patrick Cutrone’s stoppage-time goal led Milan to victory in the Europa League.
AC Milan lost a 2-0 lead at the San Siro but found an injury time winner to earn a 3-2 victory over Croatian champions HNK Rijeka in the Europa League.
Milan were in front with 14 minutes on the clock as Andre Silva struck, making room for himself inside the area after cutting in from the left and arrowing a fine finish past Simon Sluga.
And Rijeka were made to pay once more when, after 53 minutes, Milan struck again as a corner fell for defender Mateo Musacchio, who scored from close range.
Milan seemed set to control the rest of a low-key second half — but with six minutes remaining, things changed when substitute Maxwell Acosty halved the deficit.
It seemed that Milan would be denied but, in the third of five added minutes, Cutrone steered home a fine finish to break the visitors’ hearts
Alassane Plea and Allan Saint-Maximin scored the goals as Nice beat Vitesse 3-0.
Meanwhile, Nice made it two wins from two rounds in Group K with a 3-0 victory over Vitesse Arnhem on a night the lights temporarily went out at the French club’s ground — a brace from Alassane Plea and a further strike from Allan Saint-Maximin doing the damage for Lucien Favre’s side.
Lazio edged past Zulte-Waregem 2-0 to join Nice at the top of the group. Felipe Caicedo scored the decisive goal in the 18th minute, while Ciro Immobile added insurance at the death.
Marseille’s European unbeaten run ends at six matches following a 1-0 defeat to Salzburg.
In Group I, Marseille fell to RB Salzburg 1-0 in Salzburg to end their unbeaten run in Europe at six matches. Moanes Dabour bagged the winning goal from the spot in the 73rd minute.
In the group’s other match, Konyaspor dumped Guimaraes 2-1 through goals from Musa Araz and Deni Milosevic in either half. Paolo Hurtado got the consolation goal for the visitors.
Aleksandr Kokorin netted two goals to lift Zenit to a 3-1 victory over Real Sociedad in St. Petersburg.
In Group L, Zenit St Petersburg saw off Real Sociedad 3-1 in St Petersburg. A brace from Aleksandr Kokorin and a further strike from Emiliano Rigoni paced the Russians, while Diego Llorente collected the consolation goal for the visitors.
In the other match, Rosenborg raced past Vardar by the same scoreline — ex-Arsenal man Nicklas Bendtner scoring from the spot to start the rout in the 25th minute.
Cologne couldn’t find an equaliser as Red Star Belgrade ran out 1-0 winners in Group H’s other match. Richmond Boakye’s 30th-minute goal carried the visitors across the finish line, putting them two points behind Arsenal in second.
In Group J, Athletic Bilbao fell to FC Zorya Luhansk 1-0 in Bilbao thanks to a goal from Ihor Kharatin in the 26th minute, while Ostersunds FK similarly stunned German side Hertha Berlin 1-0 in Sweden to assume the group lead.
Astana extend their European home unbeaten run to 16 matches after a 1-1 draw with Slavia Prague.
Astana maintained their strong home record with a 1-1 draw against Slavia Prague in Group A.
Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui put the visitors ahead in the 18th minute before Marin Tomasov answered three minutes before half-time.
In Group G, Steaua Bucharest edged FC Lugano 2-1, while Viktoria beatHapoel Be’er 3-1.
On-loan Arsenal striker Lukas Podolski has been left out of Inter Milan’s squad for the knockout stages of the Europa League.
The Germany international is a surprise omission from Roberto Mancini’s list after starting all five games since arriving on loan from the Gunners last month.
UEFA regulations state that one of three new players entitled to be registered for the knockout stages can have previously played in a UEFA club competition group stage match for another club in the current season.
But rather than Podolski, who would therefore have been eligible despite playing for the Gunners in the Champions League group stage, Mancini has selected Xherdan Shaqiri, who represented Bayern Munich in that competition.
Dani Osvado, on loan at Inter from Southampton, was also left out of the 23.
But Davide Santon, who joined the club from Newcastle on Monday, and George Puscas, who made his Serie A debut in last weekend’s 3-1 defeat to Sassuolo, do make the cut.
de Boer reveals failed bid for Chelsea’s Marco van
Ajax manager Frank de Boer has revealed to Voetbal International that Chelsea midfielder Marco van Ginkel turned down a move to the club in the winter transfer window.
Van Ginkel, 22, joined Milan on a season-long deal on September 1, but has so far made just five appearances for a total of 218 minutes, with injuries hampering his chance to establish a place in the line-up.
Even when fit, though, the Dutchman has failed to figure in Filippo Inzaghi’s plans, with Chelsea said to be far from pleased about the situation.
Football agent Gianluca Fiorini, who was involved in the deal which brought Van Ginkel to the San Siro, revealed to Sportmediaset.it last month that the Premier League club were on the verge of cancelling the agreement, ahead of sending him out elsewhere for the second half of the campaign.
“Chelsea are very annoyed because they wanted the player where he would get more room,” he said at the time. “They are considering other possible loans. The next few matches will be decisive.”
De Boer has since revealed that Ajax made an approach for Van Ginkel, but the former Vitesse product’s decision to snub a return to the Eredivisie saw them opt to splash €6 million on Heerenveen starlet Daley Sinkgraven instead.
“We asked Van Ginkel if he wanted to move, because Davy Klaassen and Thulani Serero were not fit,” he said.
“At first we were looking at him and after that we focussed on Sinkgraven for the future. Due to injuries we needed Sinkgraven right away. And besides that, Van Ginkel didn’t want to come.”
Signing for Chelsea from childhood club Vitesse in the summer of 2013 for around £8 million, Van Ginkel made just four appearances during his first season in England before tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in a September League Cup tie at Swindon Town.
The Netherlands international made his comeback with the Under-21s towards the end of the campaign, before impressing with the first-team in pre-season, but the club’s plethora of midfield options saw Jose Mourinho opt to ship him out before the summer transfer deadline.
Super Eagles forward Sone Aluko was in action as Hull City drew goalless at Trencin of Slovakia in a UEFA Europa League qualifier first leg match on Thursday night.
Moses Simon gave a good account of himself for the hosts; in a game Tom Huddlestone missed a penalty kick.
Former Enugu Rangers star Kingsley Madu was an unused substitute for the hosts at the Štadión Pod Dubnom.
A lack of composure cost both sides in Zilina as chances went begging, leaving the tie wide open for next week’s return fixture at the KC Stadium.
Early pressure from the hosts saw Bosnian forward Haris Hajradinovic have the first sight of goal in the 14th minute, but the 20-year-old’s effort was well blocked.
It was a good outing for Simon and Aluko, but Madu should hope for better days ahead in the colours of his team.
Having kept their hosts at bay, the Premier League side were unlucky not to break the deadlock 28 minutes in through Shane Long.
It was Simon who saw two efforts blocked in quick succession after 35 minutes, first from an Alex Bruce tackle and then a Davies block which diverted the ball for a corner.
After dominating large parts of the first half, the host’s maintained control of the game and eight minutes after the break Patrik Misak had the best effort of the contest so far.
Having weathered a few half chances, Trencin finally found a foothold in the game inside the final 15 minutes when they started gain more possession, with Simon looking particularly dangerous when given too much time to run at City’s defence.
Hapoel Beer Sheva goalie Austin Ejide was heavily criticized for his blunder which led to the winning goal scored from the penalty spot by Split’s Mate Bilic in the second qualifying round of the Europa League last Wednesday.
Allnigeriasoccer.com reports that Ahead of the reverse tie in Cyprus on Thursday evening, Roni Moskovitch, who won two championships with the Camels in the 1970s, has taken stock of the performance of the Nigeria international in the first leg.
“I do not think he can be stable throughout the year but there is no doubt that Austin is among the best goalies that have been here.
“Austin should have the peace he needs to not repeat the mistakes. He has a good team so his involvement is not so great in itself.
“He should occupy himself mentally and physically so that he would not be surprised,” Roni Moskovitch was quoted as saying by one.co.il.
Unarguably, last season was Ejide’s best since he arrived at the Israeli championship after helping Hapoel Beer Sheva finish second in the topflight.
He has been on Nigeria’s rosters to the World Cup three times but never kept goal in any of the tournaments he attended.
SUPER EAGLES skipper, Joseph Yobo has apologised to his fans on social media after Fenerbache crashed out of the Europa League following their 3-2 loss to Benfica last Thursday night.
The Nigerian, whose twitter home page is @YoboOfficial, tweeted on Sunday when he said: “We failed. I apologize to all the FB fans.
“We are very bad psychologically. Benfica match too, deeply impressed.”
Super Eagles captain and Fenerbahce defender Joseph Yobo is delighted with Fenerbahce’s 1-0 home victory over Benfica in the first leg of the Europa League Semi Final on Thursday.
Speaking to the official website of UEFA, the central defender said: ”Benfica are a very good team – I give them a lot of credit – but today we deserved to win.
”Everybody can miss a penalty like we did tonight, but afterwards we showed character, and did not allow ourselves to be discouraged. On the contrary, we fought really hard to get victory.
”Tonight, they lost for the first time after not being defeated for 38 games consecutively. That is an amazing achievement, and it shows just how good they are.
”But we showed the will to win, and this is just what happened tonight. The next game will be very, very tough. We cannot and will not underestimate them.”
In addition, Yobo thanked the fans for their support during the game at Sükrü Saracoglu Stadium, Istanbul.
”Everybody knows the importance of not conceding a goal at home in this sort of competition. We had the chances to score more, but still the result is something to be proud of,” Joseph Yobo told uefa..com.
In his reaction, however, Benfica boss Jorge Jesus warned Yobo and his teammates to prepare for a tough challenge in the second leg of the Europa league come in Lisbon
Coach Jesus maintained that his side are quite capable of turning the table at home, adding that it would be a different ball game when the visitors come calling.
“Everything will be different in Lisbon,” Jorge said.
The Portuguese were nowhere near their best in Istanbul and had already seen their hosts hit the woodwork three times before Egemen Korkmaz secured a 1-0 victory with 18 minutes to go.
Jorge had no complaints about the final result but was keen to stress that fatigue had been a major factor in his side’s strangely subdued showing.
“We had a very tiring match against Sporting Lisbon at the weekend and we did not arrive in Turkey completely ready,” he said.
“In Lisbon, everything will be different. We still have another game so we remain hopeful of going through,” he enthused
Football fans across Nigeria and the world in general have been offered a chance to get a Victor Moses autographed shirt if they can tell how many passes the Super Eagles forward has completed in this season’s Europa League.
According to a release made available to SportingLife, this motive is to celebrate Western Union’s PASS initiatives. The company is offering fans the unique chance to win a football shirt signed by the Chelsea star.
“For your opportunity to be in with a chance of winning our fantastic prize, all you need to do is tell us how many passes Moses has completed in this season’s UEFA Europa League.
“To find out how many passes the Nigeria international has successfully made in this term’s competition, simply search his name at, www.wu-pass.org.
“Answers must be emailed to competitions@goal.com along with your full name, address and contact telephone number by no later than 12:00BST on May 2. Entrants must be 14 or over,” the release read in part.
Interestingly, Western Union’s three-year PASS scheme promises to turn every pass in the UEFA Europa League into funding to support a day’s education for young people around the world. So far the campaign has raised 174,495 days worth of schooling for underprivileged children.
Meanwhile, Moses is looking forward to helping Chelsea progress to the final match of the UEFA Europa League.
Reacting after his goal helped Chelsea to a 2-1 away win in Basel on Thursday; the Nigeria international took to his Twitter account @VictorMoses to celebrate his performance.
“Great result always good to score a goal looking forward to second leg. Fans were amazing,” the former Wigan ace tweeted.
