As final days go this was far from vintage and, in all honesty, confirmation this will be ed – or rather, won’t be ed - as one of the Premier League’s filler years.
For so much of the season Manchester City were super-clubs on the brink, but both qualified for the Champions League.
The four-in-a-row buzz kills fully recovered.
The club that broke the spirit of the PSR rules with a billion-pound splurge crawled over the line, in the process ending Brighton European football.
Leicester in 2015/16.
The only thing that really marked the season out as interesting was Manchester United collapsing.
But the former won the Europa League, erasing their league form, while the latter ended on a high that suggested Ruben Amorim’s catastrophe is coming to an end.
For the romantics, it was pretty much a disastrous final day.
But there is another, more optimistic take if we choose it: everyone is just about in the right European competition for their level, setting up 2025/26 quite nicely.
That includes Villa, who will kick themselves for producing a dreadful performance at Old Trafford; for making a litany of errors that outweigh the one made by the referee.
They were lucky not to be 3-0 down before Emiliano Martinez’s baffling moment of self-destruction, and as Unai Emery said after the game, “we make mistakes every day and so do I, my players and the referees. We have to accept it.”
Emery’s magnanimity was probably inspired by his own record in the Europa League; by a secret excitement to be in his happy place again. He’s won the competition four times before, with Sevilla and Valencia, and reached a final with Arsenal.
Emery will absolutely back himself to lift a fifth, especially since Aston Villa are the richest club in it and pre-tournament favourites. Their main competition is Real Betis, Roma, Freiburg, and Lille.
There’s a pretty good chance this time next year Villa fans will be celebrating the best day of their lives in Istanbul, watching John McGinn lift European silverware, and thanking their lucky stars Thomas Bramall made the mistake that allowed it all to happen.
Nottingham Forest are in a similar situation.
The Champions League money would have been a welcome boost but it would also, most likely, have seen them crash out in the League Phase, whereas playing in the Conference League gives Nuno Espirito Santo a genuine chance of winning a trophy.
They, too, will be pre-tournament favourites; their fans potentially grateful for the final-day defeat.
Newcastle will expect to fare better in the Champions League than they did in 2023/24 and qualification on Sunday was the logical next step, not to mention a major test of whether Eddie Howe can balance multiple competitions.
A Europa League stint might have been beneficial, although with clubs sniffing around Alexander Isak, they needed the UCL financial boost more than even Villa.
Manchester City and Chelsea in the Champions League isn’t quite what neutrals wanted, but there is another way to look at this.
Either one would probably have won next year’s Europa League, just as Chelsea will most likely make a mockery of the Conference League this week by winning it with their reserves.
These tournaments are not designed for super-clubs. Paradoxically, they are weaker for having big clubs competing.
Looking higher up, Liverpool’s damp squib ending appears to have exposed a small squad, suggesting they might struggle in 2025/26 to repeat their achievement.
A weaker Liverpool than we expected, and a weakened field beneath them, points to a closely-fought title race in 2025/26.
It would have been a glorious moment for Forest to get into the top five, and it would have significantly helped Villa’s progress up the ladder (not to mention compliance with PSR) to qualify for the Champions League.
There is no getting away from their bitter disappointment, and no denying both clubs would be in a better place, long-term, had they got a result on the final day.
But that doesn’t mean they won’t benefit from placing lower. In fact, it points to a more balanced and competitive 2025/26 for English football.
A forgettable Premier League season might just be setting us up for an unforgettable one; 2024/25 proving to be the fallow year, the prelude to something much better.
This one was a bit of a dud. The next one almost certainly won’t be.
More from Sporting Life
Safer gambling
We are committed in our of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.
