Premier League news: 2024/25 season concludes - The race for Champions League football ends in dramatic finality
A turbulent Premier League season concluded on Sunday May 25, with the chase for UEFA Champions League places culminating in triumph for Manchester City, Chelsea, and Newcastle.
In cruel, devastating fashion, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest both fell prey to misfortune and perceived injustice on the final matchday to miss out on Europe’s premier competition next season after memorable seasons for both sides.
Sports News Blitz’s Aidan Leo recaps the primary talking points from the final Premier League matchday.
Looking back on the battle for Champions League
Man City simply needed to win to confirm their third place league finish and to join Arsenal and Liverpool in the 2025/26 Champions League campaign.
Pep Guardiola’s men were victorious away at Fulham after a 21st-minute strike from Ilkay Gündogan and a decisive game-winning penalty from star frontman Erling Haaland on 72 minutes.
The result brought an end to an otherwise disorderly and volatile season by last season’s champions’ standards.
A third-place finish after all their unpredictable performances would not be considered a success which Guardiola himself would admit - but it can be considered relatively acceptable under the conditions of how their season played out.
Enzo Maresca carries an erratic but emerging young team to the 2025/26 Champions League
In a hard fought, gritty encounter with Nottingham Forest, Enzo Maresca’s charges were able to scramble for a marginal 1-0 victory courtesy of centre-back Levi Colwill at the City Ground.
The ending to the season marks a frantic, but successful conclusion to the Blues’ Premier League campaign.
It has not been plain sailing by any means, with performances irrational at times, but the overall outlook in reflection of the season would indicate that all Chelsea fans would have taken fourth place at the beginning of the campaign.
The Blues posted the youngest ever Premier League team this season with an average age of 24 years old.
Unquestionably, this season will galvanise Maresca’s youthful side going into the tough Champions League format which proved a success this year.
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There will likely be tough games from the outset next season, meaning Reece James, Cole Palmer and co. will need to pull up their socks and improve their performances, attacking output and chance creation if they are to simultaneously tackle the Premier League and Champions League in the way Maresca will need to if he is to take the club to the next level.
Similarly, for Forest and manager Nuno Espírito Santo, they can be pleased with the overarching landscape across their season.
They were able to string together plenty of wins and decent performances throughout the campaign.
Their goals notably for next season will be rooted around adapting their counter-attack style of play into moments of more fluidity and ball movement for sustained periods.
That really is the only way that they can add strings to their bow to challenge for the league title in the coming years.
Added personnel is what they will look to as well, but a mentality shift without fully deviating from boss Espírito Santo’s philosophy should do them wonders if they are serious about taking Forest back to the land of orange and blue skies atop the Premier League.
They can consider themselves unlucky as it pertains to their pursuit of Champions League football, but the team and fans can rest assured knowing that the yearly rise of their famed club is an inevitability.
Newcastle clinch Champions League place in spite of Everton loss
Eddie Howe’s troops, per the new league coefficient rules across Europe, were granted a place in next season’s competition with the Premier League allocated five teams to qualify for Champions League.
Along with Tottenham Hotspur, who qualified via their Europa League final victory.
The Toffees were triumphant on the final day though, through a Carlos Alcaraz finish in the 65th minute.
However, the Magpies will not be too worried about a final matchday loss when they have had an overall successful season.
It must be noted though that there is certainly offseason work to be done on the squad in various areas.
Particularly in forward positions and in their solidity at the back.
When they have had injuries, they have struggled to garner the same level of output and performances from their fringe players.
And although that is generally an obvious element of a team to point out, it is an obvious improvement point they will need to look to address, because crashing out of the Champions League early will be a likely outcome if they don’t.
Controversy at Old Trafford results in Villa’s misfortune
Aston Villa would have strolled out of Old Trafford with justifiable frustrations after midfielder Morgan Rogers was deemed to knock the ball out the hands of Man United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir prior to his tidy finish, resulting in a disallowed goal for the Villans.
This incident particularly was a questionable call, to say the least.
With Champions League qualification on the line, this call ended up costing Villa dearly as they were set to take the lead with the goal, which should have stood.
Despite the team’s 2-0 loss to the Red Devils, the Villans can take pride in their chase for top five places.
It was an admirable season with manager Unai Emery continuing to defy the odds and gradually carry his ascending side to what their fans will believe is eventual success and silverware.
Noteworthy takeaways at the foot of the table
There is probably not much to say pertaining to the relegated sides.
Their fates were sealed long before Gameweek 38.
For them, it’s back to the drawing board to look ahead to tough challenges in the Championship next season.
Notably, something does have to be said regarding the disparity in level between teams that are coming up and are immediately going down, with the other established Premier League outfits.
It’s now the second season running where all three promoted teams that came up have immediately gone down.
The gap between the teams that are certainties and mainstays in the Premier League seems to be widening the more years that pass, from the promoted teams.
Deeper and more profound talking points relating to money, squad depth, and level of managers that mid-high level Premier League teams currently have at their disposal in comparison to the Championship are likely to be had at some point in the future.
Truthfully, it’s not a good look for the league.
The Reds basking in all the glory
On a brighter note though, Liverpool fans can relish in all their successes this season.
With manager Arne Slot receiving plenty of perspectives in the realm of doubt of his managerial ability and acumen prior to his arrival, those doubters’ mouths for the time being have been sealed shut until next season.
A league title triumph in the first season with the Reds has proven to be no easy feat for managers who’ve arrived at Anfield since the Premier League’s inception back in 1992.
However, Slot has been the one to do it. His successes this year have resulted in an onwards and upwards mentality in the minds of the worldwide Liverpool faithful.
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Their star academy right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold also received a worthy, tearful send off from the Anfield crowd.
After giving his all for 20 years in his time with the celebrated club, Alexander-Arnold will wear the pristine white iconic jersey of global sporting brand, Real Madrid.
Los Blancos and England teammate Jude Bellingham will welcome him with open arms as legendary right-back Dani Carvajal is likely to conclude his time in Madrid in the coming years after creative maestro Luka Modric received his emotional send off in their final game of the season against Real Sociedad, leaving him as the lone 'La Décima' 2014 squad member left in Madrid.
Attention shifts to next season
We now turn our attention to the upcoming Champions League final on Saturday May 31, and the Fifa Club World Cup which takes place from Saturday, June 14 to Sunday, July 13.
Beyond that, it’s back to square one for the current and incoming managers and players for the 2025/26 Premier League season.
With Europe’s top tier sides set to lock horns yet again next season, we’re all in for another tightly-contested battle with plenty of drama, tears, and triumph to go around.
The evaluation of all the finer details and precise planning on the road to next season is now set in motion.
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