There is only one final week left in the Premier League this season, and the weekend's games will be played at the same time, after which the Premier League teams will complete the entire league journey. In addition to the suspense of the championship and relegation, the qualification for the three major European cups has also received some attention. Manchester United's worst result will slip to 10th place in the Premier League, and some fans feel that it would be better off without a European mission, but Chelsea and Villa have shown that even the Europa Conference League is not optional.
In the 37th round of the Premier League, Newcastle tied Brighton by one goal and gained a valuable point to remain sixth in the standings. Chelsea, on the other hand, took an early lead against relegation rivals Nottingham Forest, but were overtaken by their opponents until the last minute, thanks to goals from Raheem Sterling and Jackson, to take all three points. Chelsea's win saw them catch up with Newcastle on points and sit seventh on goal difference.
Manchester United hosted top side Arsenal and thanks to Casemiro's laziness, Leandro Trossard scored the only goal of the game to mark their second defeat at Old Trafford in 16 years. Meanwhile, United have won just two of their last 11 Premier League games and have slipped to eighth place in the Premier League, three points behind Newcastle and Chelsea. In fact, in five of those games, Manchester United conceded a goal in the last minute, and if they can hold on until the end of the game, Manchester United can take about ten more points and catch up with Aston Villa to qualify for the Champions League, which is not too difficult.
Interestingly, Manchester United, Arsenal and Villa form a perfect closed loop, with Arsenal beating Manchester United home and away, Manchester United beating Villa home and away, and Villa beating Arsenal home and away. Seeing such an interesting story, it's really hard to say clearly, who is stronger? Perhaps, Antony will string Arsenal and Villa, string a clover plant, string a concentric circle, and let all the calls for the future be a companion in the Premier League.
There are still two places left in the three major European cups, which must be drawn between Newcastle, Chelsea and Manchester United. If Manchester United win the FA Cup, they will play in the Europa League, and sixth in the Premier League (or one place if Manchester United sixth) will play in the Europa League. If Manchester United fail to win the title, sixth place in the Premier League will play in the Europa League and seventh place will go to the Europa League.
In terms of standings, Manchester United is temporarily ranked eighth, but the worst result can end up in tenth place in the Premier League. In the last two games, Manchester United played against Newcastle and Brighton respectively, if both games are lost, West Ham and Brighton may overtake Manchester United, although the chance of this happening is not very high, but the last 11 rounds of the league, only two wins Manchester United, nothing can not happen.
Therefore, some disappointed Manchester United fans will feel that it is better not to participate in all of them than to participate in the Europa League or Europa League, so as to avoid a dense schedule and allow the team to rebuild better. However, the fact is that missing out on European games may not have the desired effect, with Chelsea and Aston Villa being prime examples, and even Tottenham Hotspur not getting much benefit from it.
Last season, Tottenham finished eighth in the Premier League and Chelsea finished 12th, both missing out on European competition. Tottenham have had a great start to the season, with Postecoglou being the Premier League's best manager for three months in a row. Unfortunately, as the season progressed, Tottenham gradually fell behind, and now only the mathematical possibility remains.
Chelsea have also underperformed, hovering in the bottom half of the table for most of the season, and the "Northern Expedition" has become a joke for fans to suffer. In the final of the League Cup, facing Liverpool, which had a seriously disorganized squad, Chelsea could not win and lost the championship. In the last month or two, as Manchester United have fallen into a slump, Chelsea have barely managed to squeeze into the top seven, and it is still unclear whether they will qualify for the European Championships.
Aston Villa, on the other hand, finished seventh last season and qualified for the UEFA Europa League. After the quarterfinals of the three major European cups, a total of 8 teams participated in the Premier League, and everyone suddenly found that only Aston Villa could reach the semi-finals, even if giants such as Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool stopped in the quarterfinals. Although Villa suffered a surprise defeat to Greece's Olympiacos in the semi-finals, they were also the team that went furthest in the Premier League. What's more, Villa's Premier League standings are even better than last season's, and as long as they can win one of their last two games, or Tottenham can't win all of them, Villa will successfully fight for four places and qualify for next season's Champions League.
Therefore, without the task of European competition, Tottenham and Chelsea are not as good as Villa, although Villa is facing the pressure of multi-front participation, and the results have declined for a while, but the final result is hopefully satisfactory. From the UEFA Europa League to the Champions League, Villa have shown that a tight schedule may not be a key factor, but sometimes it is often a motivator.
Therefore, giants such as Manchester United and Chelsea cannot easily give up the European game, and having a European mission can also bring some help to the recruitment work. In particular, next season's three major European cups will be reformed, and not all of the Europa League and Europa Conference League will be held in the early hours of Friday Beijing time. Moreover, the teams in the Champions League and Europa League will not fall into the next league, and the giants will definitely become the favorites for the European championship if they join. In any case, the European championship is also an honor, which is very beneficial to the management of the team and the growth of the players.