Southampton have qualified for the 2015/16 Europa League after Arsenal defeated Aston Villa 4-0 in the FA Cup Final.
After finishing seventh in the Premier League the Saints had to wait to find out their fate as an Aston Villa win at Wembley could have scuppered their European dream, but goals from Alexis Sanchez, Per Mertesaker, Olivier Giroud and former-Saint Theo Walcott saw the Gunners cruise to victory.
It is the first time in over a decade, that the red & white of Southampton will be seen in European competition – the last time coming in the 2003/04 season after losing to none other than Arsenal in the 2003 FA Cup Final. That year Southampton fell to Steaua Bucharest in the old style UEFA Cup format losing 1-0 away in Bucharest after drawing 1-1 at St. Mary’s.
This means that Southampton will be in the pot for the third qualifying round – the first leg of this tie taking place on 30th July, with the second leg coming a week later on the 6th August. The draw will take place on 17th July in Nyon, Switzerland.
If Saints make it through – they will go into the play-off round, another two-legged tie to be played on August 20 and 27 after which could go into the Europa League group stage.
It is only due to rule change at the beginning of this season that the South Coast club are in the competition. A year ago the place would have gone to the Cup Final runners up, but this year the spot is given back to the Premier League’s next ranked team who have not achieved Europa League already- in this case, Southampton
