Premier League 2019-20 season round-up

Almost a year after it started, the 2019-20 Premier League season came to an end on Sunday afternoon.

The Premier League was suspended in mid March because of the risk of coronavirus and restarted in June with six weeks of action behind closed doors bringing the league season to a close.

Although the title had already been decided, with Liverpool winning their first league title in 30 years, there was still an afternoon of high drama with huge matches at the top and bottom of the table.

Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish

Relegation

Aston Villa survived on the final day with a 1-1 draw with West Ham. The result meant Bournemouth were relegated along with Watford, who lost at Arsenal.

Late in the game, Villa captain Jack Grealish scored for his hometown team, before seeing a shot cannon off his foot and loop into his own net. After a nervy few minutes Villa received confirmation that Watford had lost their game, meaning they will be in the Premier League again next season.

Despite making a comeback from 3-0 down, Watford lost to Arsenal 3-2, while Villa's result meant Bournemouth were relegated, despite winning at Everton.

Over the last 10 years, Bournemouth have had a fairytale story. At one stage they were nearly relegated from League Two and out of the Football League, but the club's fortunes changed, rising up through the leagues and getting promoted to the Premier League five years ago.

But despite a 3-1 win at Everton, there was no happy ending for Bournemouth who are relegated to the Championship for next season. Their manager Eddie Howe who has been responsible for much of the Cherries success was upset at the final whistle.

"In terms of feelings and emotions this has been the hardest moment of my career," said Howe, who has been manager of Bournemouth since 2012.

"I feel very emotional. Very disappointed, sad and dejected - loads of different things but they are difficult emotions to feel."

Man City player David Silva played his last game in the Premier League and was clapped off the field by his teammates

More goodbyes

Manchester City's players stood to applaud David Silva, one of the club's best ever players, in his final Premier League appearance.

Silva has spent 10 years at Manchester City, winning almost every trophy possible. There's one medal missing from his City collection though - the Champions League.

City's chance to win the competition continues in two weeks when they play their second-leg match against Real Madrid on 7 August.

Another familiar face in the Premier League, Leighton Baines, said goodbye to Everton, announcing that he's retiring as a footballer.

Baines, who is 35, has played in the Premier League for over 15 years and has 30 England caps.

Jesse Lingard scored his first goal of the season on the final day of the campaign as Man United beat Leicester 2-nil and finished third

Top Four

Manchester United are back in Europe's top competition, the Champions League, next season.

Two of the clubs trying to get into the top four European places faced each other, with Man United travelling to Leicester. It was the Red Devils who came out on top, winning a record 14th penalty for the season which was converted by star player Bruno Fernandes.

Jesse Lingard completed the win, which meant Man United finished third, their second highest finish since legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson retired.

United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said he was 'delighted'.

"We've achieved a Champions League spot, we've come from way, way behind teams and we've gone past them."

Solskjaer's Man United and Lampard's Chelsea both qualified for the Champions League next season

Elsewhere, Chelsea beat Wolves 2-0 to finish fourth and also qualify for the Champions League.

The result means Wolves haven't qualified for European competition through their league position of seventh, but will make it into the Europa League next season if Chelsea win the FA Cup final against Arsenal.

Wolves can also make it to the Champions League, but they would have to win this season's Europa League when the competition resumes in August.

Wolves' seventh placed finish means Jose Mourinho's Tottenham are into next season's Europa League. Spurs finished in sixth after a 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace.

"When all the players are available, we showed in this last period where we belong," Mourinho said.

Chelsea are back in FA Cup final and Champions League action in August

What's left to play for English teams?

The FA Cup final between Chelsea and Arsenal takes place at Wembley Stadium on 1 August.

Manchester City play the second leg of their last-16 Champions League match against Real Madrid on 7 August. City won the first leg 2-1 and victory in the second game will see them play Lyon or Juventus in the quarter-final.

Chelsea are back in action on 8 August, where they will try to come back from a 3-0 first leg defeat against German champions, Bayern Munich. If they do get through, Chelsea will face Napoli or Barcelona.

The quarter-final stage of the competition onwards will see a 'final-eight' mini-tournament take place in Portugal on 12 August. Games will be played out over a single game rather than a home and away leg.

Manchester United will face Istanbul Basaksehir or FC Copenhagen in the Europa League quarter-finals, as long as they beat LASK in the second leg of their last 16 match.

Even with the second game still to play on 5 August, United should be comfortably through to the last eight already, having beaten LASK 5-0 in the first game.

Wolves or Olympiacos, who drew 1-1 in their first game, will face either Roma or Sevilla if they win the second game in Wolverhampton on 6 August.

Once the left-over games are played, the Europa League will alter format like the Champions League.

The remaining games in the competition will all be one-off knock out matches, played as a 'mini tournament' in Germany.

When does the 2020-21 Premier League season start?

Just as one season finishes, the next Premier League season is about to start.

The Premier League has revealed that the 2020-21 season will start on September 12 and run until May 23, 2021.

Games will still be played in empty stadiums until at least October.

The English Football League (EFL) has also confirmed the Championship, League One and League Two seasons will commence on the same weekend, with their regular seasons ending on the weekend of May 8, 2021.