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.”
Kimmich ready to open Bayern Munich talks amid Barcelona speculation
Joshua Kimmich is ready to open talks with Bayern Munich over his future at the club amid speculation linking him with Barcelona.
The Germany international has spent nine years at the Allianz Arena, but he is due to become a free agent at the end of the 2024-25 campaign.
Barca have been repeatedly linked with Kimmich in recent transfer windows and are said to retain an interest ahead of next season.
Speaking to Spanish outlet AS, the midfielder talked up Barca - as well as fierce rivals Real Madrid - but fell short of saying he is open to a move.
"I want to talk to Bayern. When I do that, I won't go out and talk to the press about it," he said.
"I'm not thinking about this. I will speak to Bayern first. But of course, Barcelona and Real Madrid are amazing clubs with an amazing history."
Kimmich has played 37 times in all competitions this season for Bayern, whose last remaining hope of silverware is in the Champions League.
Bayern will face Real Madrid over two legs for a place in the final, with the first match in that double-header taking place in Bavaria on Tuesday.
Thomas Tuchel will depart the dethroned Bundesliga champions at the end of the season, with Ralf Rangnick the favourite to succeed him.
The managerial uncertainty is not helping with regards to the Kimmich rumours, but he insists that will not be a deciding factor on his future.
"It's not the most important thing right now," he said. "I know that when you sign a contract you don't sign it with the coach.
"You sign it with the club. For me, the most important thing is the club, not just the coach.
"But it's also important to know what the coach thinks about you and the team. Other people in the club can worry about choosing the coach."
Desailly calls on LaLiga to do more to protect Vinicius Junior
Marcel Desailly has called on LaLiga to do more to protect Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior and other players who have been targeted by racist abuse.
Vinicius broke down at a press conference earlier this month as he opened up about the abuse he has received from the stands while representing Madrid.
The Brazil international is not alone in that regard, with team-mate Aurelien Tchouameni another example, and World Cup winner Desailly wants more to be done.
"Vinicius has spoken out, but it's not about him - it's about LaLiga and the people who can take action," he told Stats Perform.
"We have the power to change things, but we are not doing enough. Samuel Eto'o had the same issue before.
"Vinicius is one of those who is suffering because the administrative people in charge are not willing to hit harder than they are."
Vinicius has been a key player for LaLiga champions-elect Madrid once again this season with 13 goals and five assists in 23 outings.
Desailly regards Vinicius, who scored the winning goal in the 2022 Champions League final, as one of the finest players of his generation.
"He's a very ambitious player," Desailly said. "I think he's improved a lot because he is now clinical in assisting and finishing.
"When you look at someone like Ousmane Dembele, his stats are not as good.
"Then you look at Jadon Sancho, Bukayo Saka, another who has improved - there is potential for each of those to get close to Vinicius."
Ancelotti: Real Madrid are never 'undervalued' in the Champions League
Real Madrid always feel respected by every team in the Champions League, so says coach Carlo Ancelotti.
Madrid overcame holders Manchester City on penalties in the quarter-finals to tee up a last-four clash with Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich.
City dominated much of the second leg in Manchester, yet after a 4-4 draw on aggregate, it was Ancelotti's team who got over the line.
Fourteen-time European champions Madrid, who allowed Karim Benzema to leave for Saudi Arabia at the end of last season, were not fancied to get past City, but Ancelotti does not think his team have been undervalued in this year's competition.
"Madrid is never undervalued in this competition, because everyone knows what we can do," he said.
"We feel respect from everyone."
City's Bernardo Silva called Madrid a "strange" team, a comment that left Ancelotti nonplussed.
"I don't know. We are not strange," he added.
"I think the weight of the shirt weighs in this competition, like history, but I have nothing to answer Bernardo Silva with.
"He is a fantastic player. Last year [City] had a good time and this year we had a good time. That's football."
When it was put to him that Madrid go into this tie as favourites, Ancelotti replied: "It does not worry me. We have confidence to stand up to a team that has not had a great Bundesliga season, but has knocked out Arsenal.
"It comes from eliminating a very strong team in Europe. In the Champions League, history counts a lot and that works in our favour."
Ancelotti has faced Thomas Tuchel nine times in his career, winning three of those games, losing four and drawing twice, and the Italian anticipates another stern test.
He said: "In terms of quality, they are strong in transition, they can play in different ways and are very dangerous. We are two who do not have a very clear identity. We can both play in different ways."
Tuesday's first leg also marks a return to Munich for Ancelotti, who coached Bayern between 2016 and 2017.
"It is very beautiful, a fantastic city, although unfortunately German has never entered my head," Ancelotti said.
"My son did, he learned very well. Munich is a spectacular city to live in."
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