{"id":2498,"date":"2026-05-21T04:48:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T04:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/?p=2498"},"modified":"2026-05-21T04:48:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T04:48:00","slug":"thursdays-briefing-villa-win-europa-league-and-southampton-lose-appeal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/?p=2498","title":{"rendered":"Thursday\u2019s briefing: Villa win Europa League and Southampton lose appeal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"main\">\n<div class=\"hydrate-root sc-1ihz57b-0\" data-component=\"Newsletter\" data-loading=\"lazy\" data-theme-name=\"independent\">\n<div data-theme-wrapper=\"independent\" style=\"display:contents\">\n<aside class=\"sc-y4bm30-0 jwWhkK newsletter-component sc-1ge0fwe-0\" data-newsletter-key=\"receiveInsideSportNews\">\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-2 kcLSBk\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/static-assets\/images\/newsletters\/InsideSport1_1.png\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Inside Sport\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE\"\/><\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-1 inRDZn\">\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-3\">\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-4 hfveGa\">\n<p><h3 class=\"sc-y4bm30-5 sc-y4bm30-6 fvoxRM cLEJmn\">Inside Sport newsletter: Get an expert guide to the biggest moments shaping the world of sport<\/h3>\n<h3 class=\"sc-y4bm30-5 sc-y4bm30-8 fvoxRM iTZFOX\">Get our free Inside Sport newsletter<\/h3>\n<h3 class=\"sc-y4bm30-5 sc-y4bm30-7 fvoxRM iGYpOF\">Get our free Inside Sport newsletter<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"sc-eaj12q-0 hKcUSR sc-culv3z-0 eifaJK sc-1ix0cah-0 PYnPb sc-y4bm30-10 fUEDPX\"><use href=\"#600f53465147d717\"\/><\/svg><\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-2 kcLSBk sc-y4bm30-9 iQYNfz\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/static-assets\/images\/newsletters\/InsideSport1_1.png\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Inside Sport\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Aston Villa secured their first trophy in 30 years with an emphatic 3-0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/europa-league\">Europa League<\/a> final win over Freiburg.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/southampton\">Southampton<\/a> lost their appeal for expulsion from Saturday\u2019s Championship play-off final, while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/david-seaman\">David Seaman<\/a> has called for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/mikel-arteta\">Mikel Arteta<\/a> to be honoured with a statue if the club follow up their Premier League triumph by winning the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/champions-league\">Champions League<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Classy Villa cruise to Europa League glory<\/h2>\n<p>Aston Villa ended their 30-year wait for a trophy as they strolled to an emphatic 3-0 victory over Freiburg in the Europa League final in Istanbul.<\/p>\n<p>The Prince of Wales was in attendance to see his beloved side win their first silverware since the League Cup in 1996.<\/p>\n<p>Villa\u2019s quality shone through with a pair of unstoppable strikes at the end of the first half from Youri Tielemans and Emiliano Buendia.<\/p>\n<p>Villa started to flex their muscles and Morgan Rogers added a third which sparked jubilant scenes on the final whistle.<\/p>\n<h2>Southampton play-off appeal dismissed<\/h2>\n<p>Middlesbrough will play Hull in Saturday\u2019s Championship play-off final after Southampton lost their appeal against their expulsion for \u2018spygate\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>An independent commission imposed the penalty after Saints admitted three spying charges, including observing a Boro session ahead of the semi-final first leg.<\/p>\n<p>The commission also reinstated Middlesbrough and denied Southampton the chance of a shot at promotion to the Premier League, worth an estimated \u00a3200million at a minimum.<\/p>\n<p>Saints chief executive Phil Parsons called it \u201cmanifestly disproportionate\u201d to any other sanction handed down in the history of the English game, but their appeal was rejected.<\/p>\n<h2>Arteta deserves statue if Arsenal win Champions League, says Seaman<\/h2>\n<p>Former goalkeeper David Seaman believes Mikel Arteta should be honoured with a statue outside the Emirates Stadium if he completes Arsenal\u2019s \u201cbest season\u201d by winning the Champions League.<\/p>\n<p>The Gunners\u2019 22-year wait for the Premier League title is over, which sparked wild celebrations, among the players and staff at their training base, as well as thousands of supporters at the Emirates.<\/p>\n<p>Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Tony Adams, former managers Arsene Wenger and Herbert Chapman, and the club\u2019s president Ken Friar, are all immortalised with bronze statues outside the ground.<\/p>\n<p>And when asked if Arteta could also be recognised if Arsenal see off Paris St Germain in the Champions League final on May 30, Seaman said: \u201cIf that does happen, it is going to be the best season in the club\u2019s history, so why not?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just feel this team can get better and better. The club has never won the Champions League before and that would be one hell of a double. It is a big \u2018if\u2019, but it would be epic.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Haaland: Man City \u2018should be angry\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Erling Haaland has urged Manchester City to use the pain of missing out on the Premier League trophy for a second successive year to fuel next season\u2019s title challenge.<\/p>\n<p>Arsenal were crowned champions after second-placed City were held to a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe whole club should use this as motivation now,\u201d said Haaland. \u201cWe should be angry, we should feel a fire inside our belly because it\u2019s not good enough. It\u2019s gone two years now, it feels like forever.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>What\u2019s on today?<\/h2>\n<p>Arteta is due to speak for the first time since Arsenal won the Premier League when he faces the media at the club\u2019s London Colney headquarters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Inside Sport newsletter: Get an expert guide to the biggest moments shaping the world of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2499,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/579cdb4f729a057e8424ccc47e216d1bY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzc5NDAyNTM0-2.84692877.jpg",1200,800,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/579cdb4f729a057e8424ccc47e216d1bY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzc5NDAyNTM0-2.84692877-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/579cdb4f729a057e8424ccc47e216d1bY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzc5NDAyNTM0-2.84692877-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/579cdb4f729a057e8424ccc47e216d1bY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzc5NDAyNTM0-2.84692877-768x512.jpg",640,427,true],"large":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/579cdb4f729a057e8424ccc47e216d1bY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzc5NDAyNTM0-2.84692877-1024x683.jpg",640,427,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/579cdb4f729a057e8424ccc47e216d1bY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzc5NDAyNTM0-2.84692877.jpg",1200,800,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/579cdb4f729a057e8424ccc47e216d1bY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzc5NDAyNTM0-2.84692877.jpg",1200,800,false],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/579cdb4f729a057e8424ccc47e216d1bY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzc5NDAyNTM0-2.84692877-1115x715.jpg",1115,715,true],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/579cdb4f729a057e8424ccc47e216d1bY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzc5NDAyNTM0-2.84692877-800x500.jpg",800,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/579cdb4f729a057e8424ccc47e216d1bY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzc5NDAyNTM0-2.84692877-1024x683.jpg",1024,683,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/579cdb4f729a057e8424ccc47e216d1bY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzc5NDAyNTM0-2.84692877-540x340.jpg",540,340,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/579cdb4f729a057e8424ccc47e216d1bY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzc5NDAyNTM0-2.84692877-400x250.jpg",400,250,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/?author=1"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/betreview.net\/?cat=6\" rel=\"category\">Sports<\/a>","tag_info":"Sports","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}