Manchester United’s victory over Manchester City in Saturday’s FA Cup final means that Chelsea will play in the 2024/25 edition of the UEFA Europa Conference League.
Chelsea finished sixth in the Premier League table, which guaranteed them a spot in Europe next season.
If City had beaten United on Saturday then Chelsea would have qualified for the UEFA Europa League.
But United – who finished eighth in the Premier League – took that Europa League spot as FA Cup winners thanks to a 2-1 win at Wembley, meaning that Chelsea must instead settle for a place in Europe’s no.3 club tournament.
Chelsea will enter the Conference League in the play-off round alongside the likes of Lens, Real Betis and Hoffenheim.
St Mirren, AEK Athens, Legia Warsaw, Cliftonville and St Patrick’s Athletic will also be in next season’s Conference League but will start their journey earlier in the qualifying rounds.
Chelsea have never previously competed in the Conference League – which has only been going since 2021.
If the Blues go all the way in next season’s tournament and triumph in the final in Wroclaw then they will become the first club ever to win the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League.
United’s win over City on Saturday was bad news for Newcastle.
The Magpies finished seventh in the Premier League and would have qualified for the Conference League had City won the FA Cup.
But United’s victory at Wembley means that Eddie Howe’s men have missed out on Europe completely.
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