Aston Villa players celebrate the victory during the UEFA Conference League quarter-final second leg football match against Losc Lille at Pierre Mauroy stadium in Villeneuve-d'Ascq near Lille, France. IPA

Aston Villa is England's only competitor in European competitions

By Ignacio Cervantes | Last updated Apr 18, 2024 11:15 PM ET

There's one English Premier League team remaining in European competitions, and it's Aston Villa.

The Villans squeezed into the Europa Conference League semifinal following a 3-3 draw with French side Lille that ended in a penalty shootout victory for the Midlands club at Stade Pierre-Mauroy in northern France.

Advancing into the next round on Thursday meant Villa is England's last chance at securing a fifth UEFA Champions League spot for next year, when Europe's top competition grows to 36 teams.

The fifth spot is determined by UEFA's coefficient rankings that are currently led by Italy's Serie A and Germany's Bundesliga.

Unlike the Premier League, Serie A and Bundesliga have three teams each remaining in the three European competitions.

Going into the second-leg fixtures, Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and West Ham United remained in contention to reach a semifinal alongside Villa.

The last English team in Europe: Aston Villa pic.twitter.com/iU0QxJHzie
— B/R Football (@brfootball) April 18, 2024

Table-toppers City and second-place Arsenal failed to get results on Wednesday in the Champions League against Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, respectively.

Third-place Liverpool, who were atop the Premier League standings 11 days ago, also bowed out but at the hands of Atalanta in the Europa League.

In the same competition, West Ham fell at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen — leaving Villa as the sole representative in the final four.

With Roma and Atalanta reaching the #UEL semis + Fiorentina advancing to the #UECL semis, Serie A boasts the highest coefficient in Europe pic.twitter.com/7kBgdkm4PO
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) April 18, 2024

The results leave England with poor odds to secure the extra spot in the top competition.

Disappointment from Arsenal, Liverpool and West Ham was extra bitter since an Italian and two German sides progressed in place of the British.

Up next for Villa is a two-leg semifinal against Greek club Olympiacos with Fiorentina (Italy) and Club Brugge (Belgium) featuring in the other semifinal.

Three wins for the Villans will increase England's chance of sneaking the extra spot, but with six other clubs available to enhance the other league's chances, it's looking improbable.

Ignacio Cervantes

Ignacio Cervantes is a freelance sports reporter based in Southern California. His love for sports turned into a love for reporting which has taken him to cover MLS Cup finals, CIF State finals, and numerous high school sporting events. Ignacio also contributes to the high school sports departments at Southern California News Group newspapers the Daily Breeze and the Press-Telegram

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