English clubs reach all three European finals for first timeImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace have all qualified for European finals this season ByKeifer MacDonaldBBC Sport journalistPublished34 minutes agoEnglish teams have reached the finals of three different European competitions in the same season for the first time.After Arsenal sealed their place in the final of the Champions League with a 2-1 aggregate victory against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace followed suit in their respective competitions later in the week.
Unai Emery’s Villa side overturned a 1-0 first leg defeat to thrash Forest 4-1 on aggregate on Thursday and set up a Europa League final meeting with Bundesliga side Freiburg in Istanbul on 20 May.
And simultaneous to Villa’s triumph, Crystal Palace followed up a 3-1 victory against Shakhtar Donetsk seven days ago with a 2-1 win against the Ukrainian side at Selhurst Park in the second leg.
They will face Rayo Vallecano in the final of the Conference League on 28 May.
The Conference League was introduced five years ago – becoming European football’s third competition after the Cup Winners’ Cup ended in 1999.
