For the first time ever two English clubs play for the Champions League title and at the same time, two English clubs will play for the Europa League title.
Both Chelsea and Arsenal qualified for the Europa League final last night when Arsenal beat Valencia 4-2 away after beating them at home 3-1 last week to win to two-legged tie 7-3.
It was a little tougher for Chelsea who drew 1-1 at home to Eintracht Frankfurt after drawing by the same 1-1 scoreline last week,
But Chelsea won 4-3 on penalties to advance to the finals.
Chelsea players celebrate winning penalty shoot-out
Chelsea have won the Europa League only once before when they beat Benfica 2-1 in 2014 with a stoppage winner coming from Ivanovic after Torres had scored in the first half.
Rafa Benitez was the interim Chelsea manager at the time, and also had the Blues finish in the top four in the Premier League to qualify for the Champions League in the following season.
But the London fans didn’t like Rafa, and he then joined Napoli the following year.
The wins of last night in the Europa League follow the heroics of both Liverpool and Tottenham earlier this week in both clubs reaching the Champions League final.
There was another miracle from Liverpool when they won the second leg 4-0 against Barcelona at Anfield on Tuesday night.
That was after losing the first leg 3-0.
And Tottenham were just as dramatic.
They lost the first leg at home 1-0 against Ajax last week and were 2-0 down in the second leg on Wednesday night in Amsterdam and then decided to smash in three unanswered goals.
The two-legged tie stood at 3-3 with Spurs going through on away goals.
It’s the first time ever that Spurs have reached the Champions League final.
And it’s small wonder the Premier League is the most watched sports league in the world today,
Well done Liverpool, Spurs, Arsenal and Chelsea.
Now – can Newcastle qualify for the Europa League next season?
That’s the big question – always assuming Rafa stays with us.
If Rafa goes – it’s all over so nothing will matter.
Comments welcome.
42 comments so far
geordietom
May 10, 2019 at 10:07 AM
Comment #41about PEREZ if he does leave how much is he worth ? …
hope he does’nt go … just like Rafa hope everything gets sorted with him …
hope Ashley sells up A.S.A.P …
JohnJ
May 10, 2019 at 3:48 PM
Comment #42I bet the fact Two major Euporean finals are both to be contested between English clubs is going down like a lead balloon on the other side of the English Channel! 🙂