Ahead of the finals, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace have placed English football firmly at the summit of the European game this season. With English clubs contesting the Champions League final, the Europa League final and the Europa Conference League final, the Premier League has once again underlined its continental dominance. Such a situation had previously occurred in 2023 when Italy had a club in each final, but none of them ended up winning.
European runs that confirm English dominance
English football had already captured attention back in 2019 when Liverpool and Tottenham contested an all-English Champions League final, while Arsenal and Chelsea met in the Europa League final. At the time, however, only two major UEFA club competitions existed. Seven years later, the continental landscape has changed with the arrival of the Europa Conference League, and England has just placed a club in each of Europe’s three major finals during the same season.
The clearest symbol of that dominance is Arsenal. Mikel Arteta’s side have produced the club’s most accomplished European campaign since the Invincibles era. Finishing top of the league phase with eight wins from eight matches, the North London side impressed through their consistency and tactical control, heavily built around their defensive solidity, having conceded just six goals in 14 Champions League matches. Bayern Munich, Atlético Madrid, Inter Milan and Athletic Bilbao were all outplayed by a team capable of controlling matches and forcing opponents away from their preferred style of play.
In the knockout stages, Arsenal confirmed their status as one of Europe’s leading sides, even if some performances were slightly less fluid. Bayer Leverkusen were brushed aside without major concern before a tense and extremely tight tie against Sporting CP was won thanks to the Gunners’ defensive resilience. Then came the semi-final against Atlético Madrid. After earning a draw inside the hostile atmosphere of the Metropolitano, Arsenal made the difference at the Emirates in a tense encounter, with Bukayo Saka scoring the decisive goal to send his boyhood club into the final. Twenty years after their only previous Champions League final appearance, the London club will once again compete on European football’s biggest stage as they attempt to win the first major continental trophy in their history against defending champions Paris Saint-Germain.
Yet this European season has not been solely about Arsenal and the Champions League. In the Europa League, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest met in the semi-finals, meaning England had already secured a representative in the final before the tie had even begun. Aston Villa, guided by Unai Emery’s vast European experience, dominated the league phase with seven wins in eight matches and a second-place finish overall. The Villans then eliminated Lille before dismantling Bologna in the quarter-finals with an emphatic 7-1 aggregate victory. Defensively strong, aggressive in the press and devastating in transition, Villa established themselves as one of the competition’s most dangerous sides, led by the attacking trio of Ollie Watkins, Morgan Rogers and Emiliano Buendía.
On the other side stood Nottingham Forest, the romantic story of this European campaign. After an inconsistent league phase, Forest steadily raised their level as the competition progressed. They first eliminated Fenerbahçe before surviving a hugely tense tie against Midtjylland, eventually progressing on penalties after extra time despite dominating much of the two-legged encounter, where a lack of finishing almost proved costly. Their quarter-final against Porto then brought back memories of the great European nights once associated with the City Ground, with qualification secured thanks to outstanding defensive organisation and a remarkable atmosphere.
In this all-English semi-final, Forest initially claimed a 1-0 home victory over Villa in Nottingham. However, in front of their own supporters at Villa Park, Aston Villa responded emphatically. Far more aggressive and proactive, Emery’s side produced a dominant 4-0 victory in the second leg to seal a 4-1 aggregate triumph and book their first major European final since 1982.
In the Europa Conference League, Crystal Palace also wrote a historic chapter of their own. Relegated into the competition following the administrative dispute linked to multi-club ownership involving Lyon, the Eagles could easily have viewed the campaign as a disappointment. Instead, they turned it into one of the greatest European stories in the club’s history and now stand on the verge of potentially lifting a first continental trophy. After eliminating AEK Larnaca and Fiorentina, Palace made a huge statement against Shakhtar Donetsk in the first leg, winning 3-1 away from home. That result had already placed Oliver Glasner’s side in an ideal position before the return leg at Selhurst Park. In front of their own supporters, the Eagles completed the job with a 2-1 victory and now stand just one match away from a first European trophy.
This dominance inevitably brings back memories of 2019, when Liverpool and Tottenham met in the Champions League final while Arsenal and Chelsea contested the Europa League final. But the current context feels even more remarkable. At the time, only two European competitions existed. Now, with three different UEFA tournaments, English football has placed clubs in every major continental final, an unprecedented achievement.
The consequences could also be significant for European qualification next season. Thanks to the performances of English clubs across Europe and the UEFA coefficient accumulated this year, the top five Premier League sides will qualify for the Champions League, while several other scenarios could allow England to send a record number of clubs into European competition.
If Aston Villa win the Europa League while also finishing fifth in the Premier League, the club would qualify both through their league position and through their European title. That dual qualification would free up an additional Champions League spot, allowing the side finishing sixth in the Premier League to qualify directly for Europe’s premier competition. Such a scenario could dramatically reshape the battle for European places between several clubs currently separated by only a handful of points.
If Aston Villa finish inside the top four and still win the Europa League, the situation changes: only the top five league positions would then grant access to the Champions League. However, should the Villans finish outside the top five but lift the Europa League trophy, England could send six clubs into next season’s Champions League — the top five alongside Aston Villa through their European triumph.
Crystal Palace could also influence the wider European picture. Victory in the Europa Conference League final would automatically secure the Eagles a place in next season’s Europa League. Under certain scenarios, the Premier League could therefore send as many as ten clubs into European competition next season, although it remains more likely that the final number will settle around seven or eight.
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