Manchester United and Chelsea football club have qualified for the 2020-2021 UEFA Champions League after a tension-filled battle involving the two clubs and Leicester City.
Manchester United were the late starters among the three clubs but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his men proved that “form is temporal and class is permanent” as they returned from the coronavirus break in June to remain unbeaten in their last 9 Premier League matches.
In the 9 matches, they won 5, drew 4 and lost none. To the dismay of many critics, Manchester United returned to Champions League football after losing 8 matches, drawing 12 and winning 18 matches in 38 games.
They finished the league on the 3rd spot with 66 points. Their 0-2 win against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium in the last game of the season proved enough for the Red Devils to make it into the much-desired top-4. Bruno Fernandes scored from the spot-kick in the 71st minute while Jesse Lingard doubled their lead in the 90+8th minute.
In the other hand, Leicester City that was like a house on fire prior to December could not hold on to their form as they were totally exhausted that the three months coronavirus break was not enough to get them back on track.
Brendan Rodgers and his men fell flat when they were needed the most; they experienced their worse run in their last 9 games than in any part of the prolonged 2019-2020 season. In their last 9 games, they managed to win 2, drew 3 and lost 4 matches.
At the end of the day, they lost a total of 12 matches, drew 8 and won 18 matches in 38 games. They finished the league on the 5th spot with 62 points despite resuming from the coronavirus break on the 3rd spot. With all their effort this season, they will have to return to the Europa League in the 2020-2021 season.
It is Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea, in that order, that finished in the top-4 in 2019-2020 season.
While Chelsea football club went against all the odds to do the unthinkable this season. Frank Lampard proved that he was not just a fantastic footballer during his playing days, he could also be a fantastic manager.
He took over Chelsea when the club was in a serious crisis of being banned from the transfer market and losing their biggest star, Eden Hazard, to Real Madrid. Without any new signing and having no other choice than to depend on Chelsea academy graduates, they were able to qualify for the 2020-2021 Champions League.
Their encounter against Wolves seemed like a tough one at first but before the end of the first half, Chelsea proved that they were destined to finish in the top four. Mason Mount put Chelsea ahead in the 45th minute and Olivier Giroud doubled their lead in the additional three minutes.
Though the returned from the coronavirus break was not really a smooth one for Chelsea, Frank Lampard was able to manage the team fairly well by leading them to win 6 matches and losing three in their last 9 games.
Full-time: Champions League football secured! 🙌#CHEWOL pic.twitter.com/uxRh0unx2c
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) July 26, 2020
At the end of the day, Chelsea finish the season on the hard-earned 4th spot with 66 points. They won a total of 20 matches, lost 12 and drew 6.
Their new signings, Timo Werner from RB Leipzig and Hakim Ziyech from Ajax were at Stamford to cheer on Chelsea to land a Champions League spot for them which they did in style.
Welcome to the Bridge, @TimoWerner! 👊 pic.twitter.com/ChUGD2Oda3
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) July 26, 2020
My new home! Come on, @ChelseaFC 🤩🔵💪 pic.twitter.com/7jF4GeCeQ2
— Timo Werner (@TimoWerner) July 26, 2020
Manchester United and Chelsea will now join Liverpool football club and Manchester City as representatives of the Premier League in the UEFA Champions League next season.
