As Premier League clubs increase their stranglehold on European competitions, the fight to qualify for them only gets more fierce.Coming into to the final day of the 2025-26 campaign, six clubs were still in with a chance of confirming a continental adventure for next season, making it one of the final day’s most interesting subplots.Before kick-off the situation was deliciously complex, with a huge amount of movement possible, and different competitions up for grabs. Fifth-placed Liverpool began the day in the final Champions League spot — or was it? — and faced a Brentford team chasing European football for the first time in their history. Chelsea travelled to Sunderland for another game in which both sides had something to play for. Brighton, hoping to return to the continent for the first time since 2023-24 hosted Manchester United, while Bournemouth — in Andoni Iraola’s final game — travelled to Nottingham Forest.Aston Villa, meanwhile, had already qualified for the Champions League but their result at Manchester City was important for others – should they fall to fifth, then sixth place would magically (or rather, per UEFA’s arcane rules) become a Champions League spot.Allow The Athletic’s writers to take you through a rollercoaster of an afternoon.16:23: Antoine Semenyo scores for Manchester City against Aston VillaCuriously, the first significant piece of action of an afternoon that takes a while to get going takes place in east Manchester, with Semenyo putting Manchester City in the lead against Villa, opening up that chance of sixth place becoming a Champions League spot. The Bournemouth fans, 80 miles away in Nottingham, sing the name of their former player, who may have just helped them, should Liverpool go on to beat Brentford.Duncan AlexanderSemenyo scores the final Manchester City goal of the Pep Guardiola era (Dan Mullan/Getty Images)16:25: Trai Hume gives Sunderland the lead against ChelseaSunderland dominate the first quarter of this match and take a deserved lead in the 25th minute via Trai Hume. Luke O’Nien stays up for one attack, then joins in the next one and his flick is steered beautifully in on the volley by Hume. Chelsea won’t want to hear how much Hume cost from Irish League club Linfield – £150,000. Sunderland move up to eighth, a Conference League place, Chelsea drop to 10th.Michael Walker16:34: Morgan Gibbs-White gives Forest the lead against BournemouthDespite Bournemouth starting with intent with a series of enthusiastic but unsuccessful efforts from outside the box, it was Nottingham Forest who drew first blood. Morgan Gibbs-White, with a point to prove after his omission from England’s World Cup squad — as the home crowd continually chanted about throughout — thumped home after Omari Hutchinson rolled a free-kick into his path.Forest had been ramping up the pressure immediately before and continued to look the more dangerous team throughout the remainder of the second half — but fortunately for the Cherries, other sides across the country start to do them a favour. Former Bournemouth forward Semenyo put Manchester City in front against Aston Villa, drawing a chorus of his name from the away end at the City Ground. That means Liverpool only needed to go ahead against Bournemouth to push Villa down to fifth, rendering sixth place enough for a Champions League spot. Meanwhile on the south coast, Manchester United were putting paid to Brighton’s hopes of catching up with them…Cerys Jones16:34: Brighton go 1-0 down to Manchester United, who extend their lead 11 minutes laterA horror half for Brighton. It had been a nothing game until Patrick Dorgu heads United into the lead from a Bruno Fernandes corner. That was bad enough but a slick move finished off by Bryan Mbeumo just before the break leaves Brighton’s European hopes hanging by a thread and, as it stands, hoping results elsewhere go their way. They produce nothing in the opening 45 minutes, apart from a shot by Maxim De Cuyper that ends up well wide of the target. It means Sunderland climb one place above Brighton into seventh, and potentially into the Europa League.Andy NaylorHalf-time at SunderlandBy the time referee Chris Kavanagh blows his whistle to end the first half many of the travelling Chelsea supporters have already left their seats in the upper tier of the Stadium of Light, presumably with a mind to get themselves a well-earned drink. Some had spent the majority of the first 45 minutes monitoring their phones for Tottenham updates rather than watch their team be bossed and bullied by a more physical and motivated Sunderland side.Liam TwomeyChelsea were severely under-par in the first half at Sunderland (George Wood/Getty Images)Half-time at AnfieldAs anticipated, Liverpool dominated the first half, creating the vast majority of the chances and should really be ahead. Mohamed Salah hit the post from a direct free-kick — he’s never scored for Liverpool from this particular route, believe it or not — and the lively Rio Ngumoha went close on another couple of occasions. With no real pressure on the game, Liverpool have played with a freedom not seen in previous weeks, but like so often this season they’re struggling to convert chances. Surely, with the three-point advantage over Bournemouth, and a superior goal difference, they can’t screw this up.Brentford, who also have a Conference League place in sight, perk up in the closing minutes of the first half, though, and Kevin Schade has a great chance only for Alisson to make a smart save. Their supporters still believe they can squeeze into 8th place and secure European football for the first time in their 134-year history.