Sports

Premier League season ends, top-4 secure Champions League berths

Sports Desk, May 23 (EFE).- The United Kingdom’s Premier League season ended on Sunday, with three of the top four teams winning their matches, but all four now set to compete in next season’s UEFA Champions League with not much controversy or any surprises in the final standings.

In first place on the table was Manchester City, crushing Everton 5-0 – with Sergio Aguero scoring two within five minutes after being sent in as a substitute ibn the 65th minute – followed by its crosstown rivals Manchester United in second with a 2-1 win over the Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Both teams had already qualified for the Champions League, but Liverpool (who finished in third place with a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace, with Sadio Mane scoring both times) and Chelsea (who, despite their 2-1 road loss to Aston Villa, still made it into the top four slots) were the wild cards, although the only reason for Chelsea’s advance was because Leicester City failed to prevail over seventh-place Tottenham, losing 4-2 on the road.

This was the second year in a row that the Foxes have failed to make it to Europe.

In other Premier League action, it was West Ham over Southampton 3-0, Arsenal besting Brighton 2-0, Newcastle blanking Fulham 2-0, Leeds downing West Brom 3-1 and Sheffield United over Burnley 1-0.

Meanwhile, despite missing out on the Champions League berth, Leicester in fifth still qualified for the Europa League and West Ham in the No. 6 spot will be back in the Europe competition for the first time since 2016-2017, with their first finish in the top six since 1999, when they ended up in fifth place.

Meanwhile, Tottenham in seventh place after a tumultuous season – with the firing of coach Jose Morinho and losing the EFL Cup final – will be the first English squad to play in the newly created Conference League.

In Champions League action so far this year, Manchester City is sitting atop Group C with 16 points, its rivals within the group being FC Porto, Olimpiakos and Marseille. Manchester United has 9 points in Group H, its rivals there being Paris Saint Germain (with 12 points), RB Leipzig and Istanbul Basaksehir.

And in Group D, Liverpool is sitting pretty with 13 points, ahead of Atalanta with 11, Ajax and FC Midtjylland, while Chelsea is keeping its Group E rivals in check with 14 points, ahead of Sevilla with 13, FK Krasnodar and Rennes.

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