Unai Emery toasted Aston Villa’s “champagne moment” after they qualified for Europe for the first time since 2010.
The manager has sparked a turnaround at Villa Park having been appointed in October, after the club sacked Steven Gerrard sitting three points above the relegation zone.
Sunday’s 2-1 win over Brighton – who had already qualified for the Europa League – earned a Europa Conference League play-off spot after a seventh-placed finish in the Premier League.
Douglas Luiz and Ollie Watkins scored to seal their return, despite Deniz Undav’s strike for Brighton.
“Today is a champagne moment,” said Villa boss Emery.
“When you are working and focusing week-to-week, you are not having a lot of days to celebrate something, 70 per cent of our time was spent working.
“I want to celebrate with the club, players, friends, family and I want to enjoy what we have achieved.
“It was not the first objective in this year, our progression has been fantastic. We did it and it’s very important to celebrate and be happy now, to enjoy the moment in our life.
“We started thinking our progression was going well and some teams, they are not being consistent. When we won at Chelsea (a 2-0 win in April to move to ninth) we were with them and we were in 11th for a long time. It was the most difficult step going up.
“When we were in the top 10 we started thinking about getting sixth or seventh. Brighton did a great season, they deserve to be in the Europa League.”
Leon Bailey had already hit the bar before Luiz gave Villa an eight-minute lead, steering in Jacob Ramsey’s cross.
Undav had a goal disallowed after Julio Enciso was offside in the build-up before Watkins scored his 15th of the season to make it 2-0, tapping in after Ramsey’s driving run.
But Brighton hit back seven minutes before half-time when Undav collected Pascal Gross’ quick free-kick and finished past Emi Martinez – initially ruled offside before being overturned by VAR.
Ramsey should have made it 3-1 after the break, only to lift over from five yards with the goal gaping, and Jason Steele saved Watkins’ header.
Alexis Mac Allister drove wide but Brighton never tested Martinez as they finished their historic season with defeat.
But the Seagulls have bettered last term’s finish of ninth to finish sixth – the highest in their history – to also reach Europe for the first time.
At the end, a tearful Mac Allister, linked with Liverpool, left the pitch along with Caicedo for whom Brighton rejected a £70million offer from Arsenal in January and boss Roberto De Zerbi reiterated they could move on in the summer.
He said: “It can be the last game of Alexis and Moises Caicedo. I’m really sorry because they are two great people and great players. But the policy of Brighton is like this.
“It’s right they can leave, change team and play at a higher level. I don’t know but we are ready, we have to find other big players to play without Alexis and Moises.
“I love them and they are two big, big players but when I speak about my players, they can play in a big European team. For Brighton, we can still improve.
“We can bring other good players in and improve the same way. The Premier League will be tougher.
“We had different motivation than Aston Villa, we played well, with honour, with respect for the Premier League, respect for ourselves, for our fans, our club.
“Aston Villa deserved to qualify for the Conference League and we deserved to qualify for the Europa League.”
Conte hopes for Ranieri's success at Roma after Napoli clash
Antonio Conte hopes that everything will go well for Claudio Ranieri after he came out of retirement to take charge of Roma, but only after their Serie A clash this weekend.
Ranieri was tempted back into management by a return to where he began as a player. His third spell at Roma comes after the club sacked two coaches already this season and with the team 12th in the standings.
A trip to leaders Napoli is Ranieri's first task, and Conte is looking forward to meeting up with the 73-year-old.
"I am pleased to see Claudio, I have great esteem for him and there is also friendship," Conte told reporters ahead of Sunday's game.
"I am happy with the chance he has been given. It will be a tough game, for us and for them. Last year, Roma finished ahead of Napoli, they are in the Europa League and had a good transfer window.
"They are not performing according to expectations and I hope for Claudio that everything starts to work after Sunday's game."
The arrival of Ranieri in place of Ivan Juric brings with it not just the danger of the 'new manager bounce' but also upsets Conte's plans for the game.
"When a team changes coach there is an important input on a nervous level," Conte said.
"They are at the third change on the bench. It's inevitable that, if Juric had remained, we knew what kind of team we were going to face.
"Now it's an enigma, we don't have much information nor do we know how they will deal with us. So let's think about ourselves, there is a desire and enthusiasm to continue this path."
After a streak of 21 consecutive home wins in Serie A, Conte lost his last home league match (0-3 against Atalanta). Only once in his career has he recorded two consecutive home defeats in the competition: in November 2009, when he was in charge of Atalanta (against Juventus and Roma).
Napoli are top of the table, but Conte knows it is still early, and with just two points separating the top six clubs, which includes the likes of Atalanta, Fiorentina and Lazio, for now, it is a different title race than usual.
"Only 12 games have passed and there are many teams within very few points," he said.
"We are doing well, but so are the others. There isn't one team which has distanced the others. Perhaps there is a little amazement in seeing some teams in those positions in the standings."
'Right guy at the right time' - Amorim confident of changing Man Utd's fortunes
Ruben Amorim believes he is the "right guy at the right time" to turn Manchester United's fortunes around.
The 39-year-old signed a two-and-a-half-year deal earlier this month to keep him at Old Trafford until June 2027, replacing Erik ten Hag after he was sacked in October.
Amorim is the sixth permanent United manager since Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, having left Sporting CP to take charge during the international break.
He won two Primeira Liga titles as Sporting head coach as well as two Taca da Liga trophies, while he led the club to a perfect start in the league this season, winning all 11 of their games.
United sit 13th in the Premier League table ahead of their trip to Ipswich Town on 15 points, though they are just four points behind Chelsea in third.
Amorim recognised the size of the task ahead of him in Manchester but is confident he can make a change.
"I'm a little bit of a dreamer and I believe in myself, and I believe in the club," he said during his first press conference.
"I think we have the same idea, the same mindset and that can help.
"I truly believe in the players; I know you don't believe a lot, but I do. I want to try new things. You guys don't think it's possible, I do.
"Call me naive, but I believe I am the right guy at the right time. I truly believe I am the right guy."
Aged 39 years and 302 days, Amorim will be the youngest to take charge of his first match for the Red Devils since Wilf McGuinness in August 1969 (31y 288d).
United have won just four of their 11 league games so far this season, and have struggled in front of goal, netting just 12 times so far.
Expected to implement his favoured 3-4-3 formation, Amorim admitted it would take time for the club to adapt and has asked for patience as the players get used to his tactics.
"I know at Manchester United we have to win games. We need a lot of time because it's a tough league, we have to improve a lot to try to win the title," he added.
"We have to change the physical aspect of the team. I don't know how long it will take."
'It's a shame' - Alonso confirms Leverkusen's Boniface out with thigh injury
Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso confirmed that Victor Boniface will be sidelined for some time after picking up a thigh injury on international duty with Nigeria.
Boniface, who has scored eight goals in 15 appearances in all competitions this season, was replaced late on in the Super Eagles' 2-1 defeat to Rwanda on Monday.
It is another blow for Leverkusen, who have managed 17 points from 10 games so far this season, the worst start to a league campaign in 12 years by a defending champion.
Only Omar Marmoush and Harry Kane (both 11) have scored more goals in the league than Boniface this term (six).
Alonso revealed that the 23-year-old will miss Saturday's Bundesliga encounter against Heidenheim and their Champions League tie against RB Salzburg next week.
"We will have to see how long he will be out. It is a shame," Alonso told a press conference.
"He has a thigh injury. For tomorrow, for Salzburg and maybe a bit longer. We will have to wait and see.
"It is too early to say but we hope he can still play this year. We have to see with the recovery and improvement but it is not a matter of six or eight weeks."
Leverkusen have dropped points in six Bundesliga games already this season (D5, L1), as often as they did during the entirety of their 2023-24 title-winning campaign (D6).
They come into this weekend's fixture against Heidenheim on a three-game winless run in the Bundesliga (D3), the first time they have gone this long without a victory since between April and May 2023 (five games).
Leverkusen sit fourth in the Bundesliga, already nine points behind leaders Bayern Munich as the busy festive schedule kickstarts on Saturday.
Alonso's side have eight games in just under a month, including a DFB-Pokal round of 16 clash with Bayern at the start of December.
"Eight games in four weeks. It is nothing new for us," Alonso said. "An intense phase is coming up for us and it starts tomorrow.
"We have clear goals for the Bundesliga, the Champions League and the German Cup."
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