English clubs reach all three European finals for first time

English teams have reached the finals of three different European competitions in the same season for the first time.

Aston Villa and Crystal Palace won their semi-finals last night, to follow Arsenal who sealed their place in the Champions League final with a victory against Spanish team Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.

Unai Emery's Villa side overturned a 1-0 first leg defeat to beat fellow English team Nottingham Forest 4-1 on aggregate and set up a Europa League final meeting with German side Freiburg in Istanbul on 20 May.

And also last night, Crystal Palace followed up a 3-1 victory against Ukrainian team Shakhtar Donetsk seven days ago with a 2-1 win at Selhurst Park in the second leg.

They will face Spanish team Rayo Vallecano in the final of the Conference League on 27 May.

The Conference League was introduced five years ago - becoming European football's newest third competition.

Aston Villa are now a game away from their first major silverware for three decades and a first European trophy in 44 years.

Villa head coach Unai Emery is chasing his fifth Europa League title - he previously won the tournament with Spanish teams Sevilla and Villarreal.

His team are still fifth in the Premier League and if they finish there and win the Europa League, the team in sixth - currently Bournemouth - will also qualify for the Champions League.

Meanwhile, Crystal Palace created club history as they move into their first ever European final.

The success continues a remarkable spell in their history as they go for a third trophy in what would be just over 12 months - having won the FA Cup and Community Shield in 2025 at Wembley.

Boss Oliver Glasner is set to leave in the summer having only been appointed in February 2024, but will be looking to leave with another trophy.

Reaching all three finals almost happened last season, when Chelsea won the Conference League and Tottenham beat Manchester United in the Europa League final.

But the last English team left in the Champions League was Arsenal, who were beaten by eventual winners Paris St-Germain in the final four.

The Premier League has had at least three teams across the finals of the Champions League and Europa League before.

In 2021, Kai Havertz scored the only goal as Chelsea defeated Manchester City in an all-Premier League Champions League final, while Manchester United lost in the Europa League final.

And in 2019, Liverpool beat Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League final in the same week Chelsea defeated Arsenal in the Europa League final.

Italy has secured a representative in all available finals several times, most recently in 2023, although their clubs lost all three finals - Inter Milan in the Champions League, Roma the Europa League and Fiorentina the Conference League.

In 1989-90, however, a peak era for Italian football, Serie A clubs won all three available European competitions as Milan were crowned European champions, Juventus beat Fiorentina to win the Uefa Cup and Sampdoria won the Cup Winners' Cup.

Spanish clubs reached three finals in 1985-86, with Real Madrid winning the Uefa Cup as Barcelona were beaten European Cup finalists and Atletico finished runners-up in the Cup Winners' Cup.