ESPN
May 25, 2025, 02:24 PM ET
The 2024-25 Premier League season is over! Though Liverpool were crowned champions almost a month ago and the respective relegations of Southampton, Ipswich Town and Leicester City looked on the cards for even longer, there was still some business to be settled Sunday.
With all 20 teams playing their final match of the campaign at the same time, there was still qualification for the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League at stake.
Manchester City's 2-0 win at Fulham secured them third place and booked their place back in Europe's top competition for next season by finishing third, behind champions Liverpool (who drew 1-1 with Crystal Palace at Anfield) and Arsenal (who won 2-1 at Southampton).
They will be joined by UEFA Conference League finalists Chelsea after they won 1-0 at Nottingham Forest, and Newcastle United, who snuck into the Champions League for a second time in three years despite losing 1-0 at home to Everton.
Newcastle can thank Aston Villa for allowing them to finish fifth, as a 2-0 loss at Manchester United condemned them to sixth place and with it a place in the Europa League. But spare a thought for Forest, who at one point were a surprise name in the title mix, but end the season in seventh place -- a highly respectable finish for a club that battled relegation last season, but not what it was dreaming of in January.
Man United's historically bad Premier League campaign was not quite as historically bad as it might have been, as their win against 10-man Villa moved them up to 15th, while Tottenham Hotspur, the team that beat them in Wednesday's Europa League final, finished 17th after losing 4-1 at home to Brighton & Hove Albion.
Chelsea secure UCL football at Forest's expense
NOTTINGHAM, England -- Chelsea were keen to stress privately that Enzo Maresca's position was secure regardless of what happened on the final day, but delivering Champions League football enhances his authority ahead of a busy summer.
Levi Colwill's 51st-minute tap-in was enough to give the Blues a precious 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest, sealing fourth place and a return to Europe's premier club competition for the first time since 2022-23. It was the product of a scrappy game in which many of Chelsea's shortcomings -- most obviously a disjointed attack -- were visible, but nevertheless, Maresca has ultimately brought a sense of progress to a project that has often attracted attention for the wrong reasons ever since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital completed their takeover in May 2022.
Maresca was told upon taking the job that he was expected to achieve Champions League qualification in his second season. He is, then, ahead of schedule.
And it gives the Italian a solid platform from which to attack Wednesday's Conference League final against Real Betis before traveling to the United States for a Club World Cup campaign that Chelsea are expected to take seriously, not least given the £97million on offer for winning the expanded competition.
Chelsea were determined to give Maresca time, awarding him a five-year contract in contrast to his predecessor, Mauricio Pochettino, who has handed just two years with the option of a third and seemingly never felt stable in the post. There was a desire to avoid any uncertainty around Maresca's position heading into the Club World Cup, but for that to truly be the case, Chelsea needed to achieve something tangible and victory at the City Ground on Sunday ensured that is the case.
Pedro Neto, operating as a makeshift center forward with Nicolas Jackson serving a red card suspension and Christopher Nkunku injured and Tyrique George demoted to the bench, wasted their best chance of the first half, steering Cole Palmer's 30th-minute cross over the crossbar. The Blues had only two shots after Colwill's goal.
Forest struggled to muster much going forward in response. Chris Wood fired over from Ola Aina's right-wing delivery just before the break, but it was only as the game headed for stoppage time that they were able to put Chelsea under sustained pressure. An 88th-minute goalmouth scramble preceded Wood collecting Matz Sels' long ball into the box and firing over from inside the 6-yard box.
For Forest, it was a bittersweet finale. There was a sense of jubilation in these parts before kickoff, exemplified by the "Destination: Europe" banner adorning the Trent End. They will embark on a European campaign for the first time since 1995-96 next term, but having started the daydreaming of Champions League football, they end it knowing the Conference League awaits.
In truth, Forest ran out of steam. Two wins from their final eight league games tells that story, but nothing should detract from a season in which Nuno Espírito Santo and his players defied all preseason expectations to finish in seventh when many observers had them nailed on to be relegated.
Maresca might still have a battle to truly win the hearts and minds of Chelsea supporters, especially given the ongoing criticism of his style of play, but he can now continue that fight from a renewed position of strength. After two decades of success under a variety of managers during Roman Abramovich's ownership, those traveling Blues fans respect one thing above all else: getting the job done. And Maresca did that here. -- James Olley
More disappointment at Old Trafford -- this time for Villa
MANCHESTER, England -- Another game, another failure to qualify for the Champions League, although on this occasion, it was Manchester United wrecking the hopes of their opponents rather than their own as a 2-0 Old Trafford win against Aston Villa denied Unai Emery's team a place in next season's most prestigious club competition.
Four days after blowing their chances of a back-door entry into the Champions League by losing to Tottenham in the Europa League final, United's final-game rally against Villa ultimately denied their guests a top-five spot, but the final outcome might have been different had Emery's team not been reduced to 10 players with the 45th-minute red card for goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez for a foul on Rasmus Højlund. At the end of such a dismal season, though, United probably needed Villa to lose their keeper in order to be able to find the win that drew a line under what manager Ruben Amorim called a "disastrous season" in his postmatch speech to the crowd.
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Nicol: Referee made a calamitous error in disallowed Villa goal
Steve Nicol believes the referee has "messed up big time" in disallowing Aston Villa's goal in their 2-0 defeat to Man United, denying them Champions League qualification.
United have been so bad this campaign that Amad's 76th-minute goal -- a header from a Bruno Fernandes cross --was their first at home in the Premier League since March 9. With Christian Eriksen sealing the win with an 87th-minute penalty, United recorded only their third league win since the end of January.
The Martínez red card and referee Thomas Bramall's decision to rule out a Morgan Rogers goal when the score was 0-0 -- Bramall judged Rogers to have kicked the ball out of goalkeeper Altay Bayindir's hands -- both helped United seal the win, but while the Martínez sending off was clear, Emery and Villa were furious at the Rogers decision because it arguably cost the club a Champions League spot.
Still, with so many unenviable records broken by Amorim's team this season, every helping hand should be appreciated by a United side that is packed with players who are nowhere near the standard of a club of its stature.
Amorim has a huge rebuilding job ahead of him, but it needs to start with a clear-out of so many substandard players. Eriksen, Jonny Evans and Victor Lindelöf will leave as free agents, but the likes of Højlund, Diogo Dalot, Casemiro, Luke Shaw, André Onana, Bayindir and so many others would not be missed if they found new homes summer.
For United, it is a long way back to where they want to be, where they believe they should be, but this season really has to be rock bottom. No trophies, no European qualification and a finishing position closer to the bottom three than the top five. That's an embarrassment for Manchester United, but they have underperformed for more a decade now and, at some point, they have to start heading in the other direction. -- Mark Ogden
Even in their worst campaign, City keep place in UCL
LONDON -- In the race for the Champions League, Manchester City got the job done at Fulham with minimal fuss.
Pep Guardiola's side only needed a point at Craven Cottage to be sure of a top-five finish, and a comfortable 2-0 win was more than enough to book a place in Europe's elite club competition. It's not what City are used to celebrating on the final day, but there were smiles from Guardiola and his players at full time, nonetheless.
For just the second time in 16 years as a top-flight manager, Guardiola has finished outside the top two. There was a point in the season -- particularly during a run of one win in 13 games in all competitions in November and December -- when it looked like the wheels might come off completely. If nothing else, City have limited the damage.
Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester United have all missed out on the Champions League in the past 10 years. City, meanwhile, last failed to qualify in 2010-11. Even after their worst campaign in a decade, they'll remain at Europe's top table.
There's no time to rest. While other clubs are looking forward to a summer off, City will prepare for their appearance at the newly expanded Club World Cup. There's an international break first, and then a flight to their Miami base camp June 12 ahead of the tournament in the United States. It's one last chance to win a trophy, and with it bank up to $125 million in prize money.
It's only after their involvement in that competition ends that the hard work will start on the task of wresting the Premier League title back from Liverpool. Kevin De Bruyne -- who got six minutes off the bench in his final game for City -- needs to be replaced and there are huge doubts about Jack Grealish's future after he was left out of the squad for the trip to London.
Another possible departure is goalkeeper Éderson. The 31-year-old had offers to move to Saudi Arabia a year ago and there's an expectation that there will be more interest this summer. It might be time for him to go, but his appearance at Fulham was his last for City in the Premier League, then it gave a little reminder of how difficult it will be to replace him.
The Brazil international plays an important part in Guardiola's system with his ability on the ball -- passing both long and short -- but he also showed impressive reflexes with two good low saves to deny Harry Wilson in the first half. Had either one of them gone in, it might have given City a far more nervous afternoon. He capped it off with another smart stop from Sander Berge in stoppage time.
FC Porto's Diogo Costa is one of the names in the frame to replace Ederson if he leaves this summer. Anyone chosen to take over has big shoes -- and gloves -- to fill. -- Rob Dawson
Liverpool finally revel in title celebrations
LIVERPOOL, England -- As Liverpool's clash with Crystal Palace entered its final minutes, a red mist descended on Anfield.
The hosts were on course for a 1-1 draw with the FA Cup winners -- stretching their winless run to four games -- but nobody inside the stadium cared at all. The hard work had been done during the first nine months of the season. Now, it was time to party.
When captain Virgil van Dijk finally hoisted aloft the Premier League trophy, the Reds' long-awaited title celebrations could begin in earnest. Red ticker tape rained down on the pitch as fireworks filled the sky. In the stands, people laughed and cried and sang until their throats were sore.
For a generation, this was the first opportunity to watch Liverpool lift the trophy that legendary manager Bill Shankly once described as the club's "bread and butter." Having been denied the chance to properly honor the Reds' last Premier League triumph in 2019-20 -- which ended a 30-year title drought -- because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the supporters were not going to pass up the opportunity to celebrate this one in style.
Watching the action unfold from the directors' box was Jürgen Klopp, who helped Liverpool reestablish themselves among Europe's elite during his glittering nine-year tenure before stepping down as manager last summer. Also watching on were former club captains Steven Gerrard and Jordan Henderson: both bona fide Anfield royalty, having amassed plenty of silverware during their playing careers.
But on Sunday, a new host of Liverpool legends were anointed. Arne Slot and his players have written their names into the history books.
And after romping to the title, Slot's team will surely hope that this is just the beginning of a special Anfield dynasty. -- Beth Lindop
