Aston Villa attend the European Cup after 13 years

At Villa Park, Aston Villa started jubilantly and led 2-0 after only half an hour of play. In the 8th minute, Jacob Ramsey stretched for Douglas Luiz to cross the corner to beat goalkeeper Jason Steele. In the 26th minute, Ollie Watkins stepped into an empty net to double the lead from Jacob Ramsey's cross.

The host could not keep a clean sheet when Deniz Undav shortened the gap at the end of the first half. However, a 2-1 victory is enough for Aston Villa to hold seventh place in the Premier League with 61 points, maintaining a one-point gap with Tottenham.

Thanks to that, Aston Villa won tickets to the European Cup for the first time in 13 years. But in the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 seasons, they were both eliminated in the Europa League play-off round. The last time Aston Villa participated in the group stage of the European Cup was the 2008-2009 season, when they reached the round of 16 of the UEFA Cup - the predecessor of the Europa League.

When appointing Unai Emery in October 2022, Aston Villa ranked 15th and struggled with the relegation battle. But after less than half a year, the Spanish coach helped the Villa Park owner to advance strongly and finish seventh, winning tickets to the Europa Conference League preliminary round.

After winning Brighton, Emery was proud and considered attending the European Cup an important achievement. He said the Europa Conference League is a medium-sized tournament for Aston Villa to aim for the championship because it is very difficult for the club to compete in the English Premier League, FA Cup or League Cup.

Meanwhile, the defeat at Villa Park does not affect Brighton's position. Coach Roberto De Zerbi's teachers and students finished sixth, joining Liverpool in the Europa League next season, thereby participating in the European Cup for the first time in their 121-year history.

Four Champions League spots belong to champions Man City, Arsenal, Man Utd and Newcastle. At the bottom of the table, three relegation spots belong to Leicester, Leeds and Southampton, while the three teams promoted from the Championship are Luton Town, Sheffield United and Burnley.

Kane set a record of ten goals in Premier League matches and reached 30 this season, just behind top scorer Erling Haaland with 36. After the victory over Leeds, the English striker refused to comment on the future and wanted to focus on the reunion with the "Three Lions" to play two Euro 2024 qualifying group C matches against Malta on June 16 and North Macedonia on January 19. 6.