English clubs reach all three European finals for first time

Breaking news from the world of sport: English clubs reach all three European finals for first timeImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace have all qualified for European finals this season Published7 minutes agoEnglish teams have reached the finals of three different European competitions in the same season for the first time. After Arsenal sealed their place in the final of the Champions League with a 2-1 aggregate victory against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace followed suit in their respective competitions later in the week. Unai Emery's Villa side overturned a 1-0 first leg defeat to thrash Forest 4-1 on aggregate on Thursday and set up a Europa League final meeting with Bundesliga side Freiburg in Istanbul on 20 May.

And simultaneous to Villa's triumph, Crystal Palace followed up a 3-1 victory against Shakhtar Donetsk seven days ago with a 2-1 win against the Ukrainian side at Selhurst Park in the second leg. They will face Rayo Vallecano in the final of the Conference League on 28 May. The Conference League was introduced five years ago - becoming European football's third competition after the Cup Winners' Cup ended in 1999.

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How Villa could get sixth into the Champions League Published1 hour agoReaching all three finals almost happened last season, when Chelsea won the Conference League and Tottenham beat Manchester United in the Europa League final. But the last English team left in the Champions League was Arsenal, who were beaten by eventual winners Paris St-Germain in the final four. The Premier League has had at least three teams across the finals of the Champions League and Europa League before.

In 2021, Kai Havertz scored the only goal as Chelsea defeated Manchester City in an all-Premier League Champions League final, while Manchester United lost in the Europa League final. And in 2019, Liverpool beat Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League final in the same week Chelsea defeated Arsenal in the Europa League final in Baku. Meanwhile, in 2006 English teams lost both finals - when Arsenal were beaten in the Champions League by Barcelona and Middlesbrough were thrashed 4-0 by Seville in the Uefa Cup.

But you have to go back more than 20 years from that point to find the previous season in which English clubs won two of the three available competitions. In 1984, Liverpool claimed a fourth European Cup by defeating Roma and Spurs defeated Anderlecht to win the the Uefa Cup for a second time. Liverpool also won the European Cup in 1981 with a 1-0 win over Real Madrid in Paris, while Bobby Robson's Ipswich Town defeated AZ Alkmaar in the Uefa Cup final.

Have other countries managed it? Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, AC Milan won back-to-back European CupsItaly has managed to secure a representative in all available finals several times, most recently in 2023 although their clubs lost all three finals - Inter in the Champions League, Roma the Europa League and Fiorentina the Conference League.

The story has climbed to the top of the sports agenda, with fans and analysts following closely.