Manchester United have qualified for the Europa League with today’s FA Cup final win against city rivals, Manchester City.
The triumph means United join Tottenham in the expanded group phase of the Europa League.
Chelsea must play a Europa Conference League qualifier in August.
And Newcastle miss out on European football completely.
West Ham United finally broke a 58 year old jinx by winning a continental competition in Europe.
The Hammers won their first major European trophy since 1965 by beating Fiorentina 2-1 in the Europa Conference League final.
Winger Jarrod Bowen scored a late winner inn the dying minute of the game for David Moyes’ side in Prague.
Bowen raced onto Lucas Paqueta’s defence-splitting through-ball to bear down on goal and rifle past Pietro Terracciano.
West Ham had opened the scoring just after the hour through Said Benrahma’s penalty from Cristiano Biraghi’s handball.
However, Fiorentina equalised a few minutes later as Giacomo Bonaventura found the far corner with a well-taken finish.
The Hammers withstood heavy pressure at times, but held firm before scoring a late winner that sealed a long-awaited triumph.
West Ham now have their first major trophy in 43 years. It’s also their second European trophy after the 1965 Cup Winners’ Cup.
West Ham will join Liverpool, Brighton to feature in next year’s Europa League competition by virtue of winning the Europa Conference League.
Roma coach Jose Mourinho gave an emotional speech after winning the Europa Conference League final in Tirana.
Roma defeated Feyenoord 1-0 in Tirana thanks to Nicolo Zaniolo’s winner.
“There are so many things going through my head. So many things at the same time,” said Mourinho.
“I’ve been at Roma for 11 months, I realised the moment I arrived what it meant, they were waiting for this. As I told the lads in the locker room in Turin, we did what we needed to do, qualify for the Europa League. We had great work all season.
“This was not work tonight, this was history. We had to write history. We wrote it.”
Roma had never won a major UEFA tournament before, as the Fairs Cup was not recognised in the 1960s, losing Finals in 1984 and 1991.
“The Conference League is a competition that we had the sensation from the start we could win, but it got a stronger competition when the Europa League teams came in, Leicester City, Olympique Marseille and Feyenoord. But we were counting on it, we could’ve had a few more points in Serie A, but we put so much into this competition.
“Now I am staying, there are no doubts. Even if some rumours emerge, I only want to remain at Roma. We must understand what our owners, who are fantastic people, want to do next season, because this is history, but we can build a really strong project with honest professionals.
“We need to sit down and understand what the plan is for next season.
“This remains in the history of Roma, but also mine, I was told only I, Sir Alex and Giovanni Trapattoni won trophies in three different decades. It makes me feel a little old, but it’s nice for my career!
“Now I will go on vacation and sit on the beach to think about all this for a while.
“The great thing about my career is that, aside from the Europa League with Manchester United, doing it with Porto, Inter and Roma is very, very, very special. It’s one thing to win when everyone expects it, when you made the investments to win, but it’s quite another to win when something remains immortal, that feels truly special.
“I think of myself, of course, but above all the Roma fans who can celebrate tonight, enjoy themselves and remember this night forever.”
Mourinho concluded: “Of course I feel like a Romanista, but that might be my way of working. I am a Porto fan, an Inter fan, a Chelsea fan, I am crazy about Real Madrid, I am now a Roma fan, I belong to all those clubs because we had these moments together.
“Tonight, with all due respect for all the clubs I worked for before, I am 100 per cent Romanista, because these fans are truly incredible.”
It was a night of thrilling footballing moment in Europe, and both the UEFA Europa League and Conference League got underway as there were semifinal clashes on Thursday.
There were goals all around as Luis Sinisterra’s brace saw Feyenoord secure a one-goal victory over Olympique Marseille in the Conference League.
Jose Mourinho will also be happy with Roma’s draw over Leicester City despite being outshot during the entire match.
In Europa League play, West Ham came close to grabbing a draw against Eintracht Frankfurt as Jarrod Bowen’s bicycle-kick effort clattered off the post late into stoppage time.
Rangers also scored 3 goals against Leipzig 1 to zoom into final and book a date with Frankfurt on May 18 in Spain.
Rangers only put one shot on target in the entire match and even with an expected uptick at home, their squad doesn’t seem to have the quality to hang with the big boys of Germany.
Super Eagles and Leicester City midfielder, Wilfred Ndidi will miss the remainder of the season due to a calf injury
Super Eagles and Leicester City midfielder, Wilfred Ndidi will miss the remainder of the season due to a calf injury
The Super Eagles star underwent surgery after he fell off during their UEFA Europa Conference League last-16 draw with Rennes on March 17.
Leicester city boss, Brendan Rodgers, has now revealed that the defensive midfielder will now go through rehabilitation in preparation for next season.
Rodgers said: ‘Wilfred Ndidi will be out this season, it’s a shame for us, but he will get ready for next season.
‘It’s unfortunate. He has been a brilliant player to me during my time here. He suffered a nasty injury that required surgery and he will now recover until June.”
It comes as a setback in Leicester’s ambitions to become the first winners of the Europa Conference League, while Dutch PSV Eindhoven awaits them in the quarter-finals.
Leicester city are aiming to win the maiden edition of the Europa conference League but would still have to scale the quarter final, semi-final hurdle.
Abbas Ibrahim of Pacos de Ferreira in the Portuguese Primeira Liga says his club’s win over highly rated Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa Conference League (ECL) was due to team hard work.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Portuguese side pipped Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 in the first leg play-off of the newly introduced ECL tie on Thursday in Portugal.
An highly elated Ibrahim told NAN from his base in Portugal that the win was a morale booster for the team as the team prepares for the return leg next week.
“I am happy with the win over Tottenham Hotspur. I think this will spur us even better for the second leg because the job is not yet completed.
“Our aim is to play in the group stage of this new competition (ECL) and we have been working hard towards that,” he said.
The 23-year-old diminutive midfielder who just signed a contract extension with his club till the summer of 2024 described the Portuguese Primeira Liga as very competitive.
Ibrahim, who was part of Nigeria’s U-13 and U-15 squads years ago joined the U-19 of Pacos de Ferreira in 2016, then progressed to the B Team two years later and subsequently made his first team debut a year later.
He has been on two consecutive loan spells with USC Paredes and FC Arouca and gradually forced his way to the first team last season with 11 appearances, three starts and one man of the match award.
Pacos de Ferreira finished 5th last season to qualify for the inaugural Europa Conference League this season.
The team will play Tottenham Hotspur next week Thursday in the return leg of the ECL for a place in the group stage of the competition.
Ibrahim’s eye catching displays towards the end of last season had led to call for an invitation to the Super Eagles.