Enter the Champions League with Liverpool as number 5, Europa League tickets for Kluivert, Brobbey and Roefs | Sport

Liverpool secured the Champions League ticket for next season on the final day of the Premier League. Arne Slot’s team drew 1-1 against Brentford at Anfield, but were not overtaken by Bournemouth.

Liverpool finishes with 60 points after 38 matches in 5th place. That is enough for a Champions League ticket, just like in La Liga due to the good results of English and Spanish clubs in Europe this season. Liverpool finishes five points below Aston Villa of Spanish success coach Unai Emery, who won his fifth Europa League as coach last Wednesday.

Aston Villa won 1-2 in the away match at Manchester City, where Pep Guardiola said goodbye with a defeat after ten years as a coach. The Catalan coach won the Premier League six times and the Champions League in 2023 with City, but had to leave the titles in his last two seasons in England to Arne Slot’s Liverpool and Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal. The champion ended the season after a week of much partying with a 1-2 victory at Crystal Palace in south London.

English striker Ollie Watkins scored twice in the second half for the club from Birmingham, where there was a big celebration on Thursday evening after Aston Villa’s Europa League victory in Istanbul on Wednesday evening. In addition to Guardiola (593 matches as coach of Manchester City in ten years), Portuguese midfielder Bernardo Silva (459 matches in nine years) and English defender John Stones (294 matches in ten years) also said goodbye to City, with which they became champions six times.

Liverpool could have beaten Aston Villa on the final day of the Premier League, but that did not happen. A fifth place for Europa League winner Aston Villa would have been especially good news for the number six in the rankings, because then Bournemouth would also have entered the Champions League.

That did not happen for Bournemouth, where Justin Kluivert was allowed to participate as a substitute for another twenty minutes, just like last Tuesday against Manchester City (1-1). These were Kluivert’s only minutes since he had knee surgery at the beginning of January. National coach Ronald Koeman will announce his World Cup selection on Wednesday.

Jeremie Frimpong arrived in the 73rd minute for Liverpool, but that was a side issue at Anfield at that time. Liverpool’s 65,000 fans clapped their hands for Mohamed Salah for the very last time.

The 33-year-old attacker from Egypt was ahead in his last match The Reds even more important with an assist to Curtis Jones’ 1-0. Kevin Schade made it 1-1 six minutes later on behalf of Brentford, which had two big chances to make it 1-2 in extra time. The London club therefore finished in 9th place, just not enough for European football.

Salah (33) has played for Liverpool since July 2017, after coming from AS Roma for 42 million euros. The Egyptian played in 442 games The Reds to 257 goals and 123 assists for Liverpool, winning the Champions League in 2019 and the Premier League in 2020 and 2025.

In addition to number six Bournemouth, number seven Sunderland will also enter the main tournament of the Europa League next season. Sunderland started the last match day in 10th place, but the team of French coach Régis Le Bris won 2-1 against Chelsea in a swirling Stadium of Light. The club of Dutch internationals Robin Roefs, Lutsharel Geertruida and Brian Brobbey thus qualifies for the Europa League.

Shortly after half-time, Brobbey played a leading role in the 2-0, although he did not hit the ball properly and it became an own goal for Chelsea back Malo Gusto. Geertruida was hired by Sunderland from RB Leipzig this season, but despite playing 31 games, will not be permanently taken over by the English club.

Sunderland have played at the second or third level in England for the past eight seasons, but made an excellent return to the Premier League. Sunderland made a big impression, especially in the first months of the season, reaching third place at the end of November. Chelsea finishes in 10th place and will not play European football at all next season. Xabi Alonso will be Chelsea’s coach next season.

Brighton & Hove Albion lost 0-3 to Manchester United on the final day, but finished in 8th place. This means a ticket for the Conference League for the team of Dutchmen Bart Verbruggen, Joël Veltman, Mats Wieffer and Jan Paul van Hecke.

Brighton is therefore a possible opponent for Ajax at the third level in Europe. Van Hecke seems to be leaving Brighton after the World Cup, possibly to Arne Slot’s Liverpool to form a duo with Virgil van Dijk.