Aston Villa defeated Nottingham Forest 4-0 in the second leg of the Europa League to advance to the final of the competition and with it, there are significant consequences to the Premier League.
Aston Villa defeated Nottingham Forest 4-0 to book their spot in the Europa League final, in what is a great result for several clubs in the Premier League.
Nottingham Forest won 1-0 in the first leg but were unable to get close to Villa away from the City Ground.
Ollie Watkins scored Villa’s first goal after 36 minutes and from there it was one-way traffic, with Emiliano Buendia and then a brace from John McGinn putting an end to the competition.
This was a result that many Premier League clubs below Aston Villa in the were hoping for as it may well have big consequences to their season.
But why is that?
With Villa extremely likely to finish in fifth in the Premier League, it means they are almost certain to have already secured Champions League football for next year.
They are currently six points clear of Bournemouth in fifth, with just three matches to play in the Premier League.
Now, fifth place being Champions League football is of course due to the extra spot being granted to the Premier League thanks to being top of the UEFA coefficient list.
But why does it matter for teams below Aston Villa?
Well, with Villa now into the Europa League final, and likely to be heavy favourites against Freiburg, they could effectively secure a spot in the Champions League in two ways.
But because they are taking the coefficient spot and not a normal top-four spot, it means they are taking two spots, which cannot happen.
And, with that, it means that, assuming Villa do remain in fifth spot exactly, sixth place would be an extra Champions League spot.
Bournemouth currently sit in sixth, but there are a whole host of clubs within touching distance, not least Brentford, who are just a point behind the Cherries, with Brighton a point further back and Chelsea, Everton and Fulham all on 48 points - four behind Bournemouth.
That means that for Fulham, they could still qualify for all three European competitions.
Should they finish sixth, they would take the Champions League spot, if Villa beat Freiburg, should they finish seventh, they would take the Europa League spot, while if Manchester City win the FA Cup, eighth would see Fulham into the Conference League.
Fulham face Bournemouth in a massive encounter this weekend, before matches against Wolves and Newcastle.
With the Europa League happening before the end of the Premier League season, they will know what they need to do and which places will get into European football.
Either way, Villa’s win could well see Fulham achieve the impossible and end up in the Champions League.