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Premier League champions Liverpool are 14 places above the Europa League finalists Manchester United.
There will be three European teams in two respective finals later this month.
It has been confirmed that either the Premier League's 15th-placed team will face the 16th-placed outfit for a berth in the Champions League. Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur will get their hands on the Europa League. Meanwhile, Chelsea go in search of claiming the Europa Conference League as they face Real Betis.
Certainly, Spurs and Chelsea were expected to reach their respective showpieces when the semi-final fixtures were confirmed. Tottenham were drawn against Norwegian side Bodo/ Glimt and eased to a 5-1 aggregate win. Enzo Maresca's Chelsea faced Swedish club Djurgarden and triumphed by the same scoreline.
But United's last-four encounter appeared difficult on paper. They were pitted against an Athletic Bilbao side that are set to be in next season's Champions League regardless as they sit fourth in La Liga. It looked a difficult task ahead, with Bilbao boasting one of Europe's premium wingers in Nico Williams, who helped Spain to Euro 2024 glory last summer.
But after 180 minutes, United romped to success. A 3-0 triumph at San Mamis in the first leg was followed up by a 4-1 triumph at Old Trafford last night. A Mason Mount double and goals from Casemiro and Rasmus Hojlund moved Ruben Amorim’s side into the final in Bilbao later this month.
So England's 15th-best team delivered a 7-1 thrashing of Spain's fourth-strongest outfit. It is the same United side who are 43 points behind this season's Premier League champions Liverpool.
The Reds have been basking in the glory of winning a 20th English championship for almost two weeks. There are few who can say it is not deserved but there have been some trying to chide and disparage the achievement in Arne Slot’s maiden year in the hot seat.
Firstly, there was the argument that Liverpool were lucky to avoid injuries. That's not taking into Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konate and Diogo Jota - all first choice in the early stages of the campaign - have spent prolonged periods unavailable.
Then there have been some trying to make a case that the Premier League is weaker this season. That is despite United and Spurs reaching the final of the second-tier European competition and Chelsea the third. Had the likes of Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa or AFC Bournemouth been in the tournament then they could well be in the position.
Mikel Arteta made the latest bizarre claim that Arsenal would have won the Premier League this season based on their points tallies of the previous two campaigns. The Arsenal boss seemingly forgot that Liverpool, on 82 points, still have three games to go and can reach 91 points, which would be more than the Gunners in 2022-23 and 2023-24.
However, Slot has stated several times that he does not feel that the division is weaker than previously. “In my opinion it’s a really difficult league, there’s not an easy game. But that tells you something about us,” the Anfield boss said before the 5-1 win over Tottenham which wrapped up the title.
“But we’re not the only team to find it hard to win a game by two or three goals. Maybe Liverpool and City and Arsenal aren’t as good, or the other teams have got better.”
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