English underdogs Aston Villa have qualified for the Champions League for the first time after top-four rivals Tottenham Hotspur lost to Manchester City on Tuesday.
Tottenham had been the only team who could have overtaken Villa into fourth before Tuesday, but are now 5 points behind Unai Emery’s side with one game remaining.
The more-than 40-year wait for a return to Europe’s top club competition ended on Tuesday when city beat Tottenham to ensure Villa would finish the season in the premier league top four.
Villa are on 68 points with one match to play after picking up a point in a late comeback against Liverpool on Monday. Tottenham are five points behind in fifth place on 63 points after their loss to City and can no longer move into the top four.
Villa has not reached Uefa’s premier club competition since it rebranded from the European Cup to the Champions League in 1991-92.
They last played in the European Cup 41 years ago in 1982-83 having won the competition the season before.
The club posted a video on social media following the Man City win that showed manager Unai Emery and his players celebrating the occasion.
Emery’s side qualified for Europe last season and played in the third-tier Europa Conference League, where they lost in the semifinals to Olympiacos. To many, their loss came as a result of them wanting to be serious about attaining European football.
Villa’s end-of-season awards evening was taking place at Villa Park with Watkins being the star man as the Tottenham-Manchester City game was happening. Scenes of celebration when Erling Haaland’s late penalty condemned Spurs to defeat and sealed Villa’s European ticket were all over the social media space
The weekend’s fixture against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park has become something of a dead rubber, although Emery will be keen to end the season in a way befitting a Champions League side. Every fan will already be ecstatically looking forward to 2024-25.
