Sky Sports' Johnny Phillips: Europa glory can come at a cost

Chelsea walked away with the trophy, ensuring a strong first season for Maurizio Sarri and a neat bookend to a magnificent career in England for the club’s star player, Eden Hazard.

But for Arsenal, the whole season fell flat after as dispiriting a 90 minutes as they have produced all season. With Champions League qualification at stake, Unai Emery’s side badly fluffed their lines.

There was nothing to take away from the performance. In many respects, the team would have been better served if it had been knocked out in the first stages of the competition.

Instead, they progressed all the way through to a final on the opposite side of the continent that has left their fans massively out of pocket, while stretching the resources of Emery’s squad over a season that ended in domestic disappointment too, with the Gunners finishing outside the top four.

UEFA love to play around with their power and the Europa League has, on many occasions, presented the platform to do this. But the decision to hold the final in an athletics stadium that proved about as accessible as a trip to the moon did not go down well with fans of both clubs. A 5,000 mile round trip as the crow flies was nearer 7,000 for those who travelled by road – a non-stop 57 hour journey, each way, providing there were no traffic delays and border hold ups on the route.

UEFA will argue that taking the final to all parts of its domain is worthwhile, but no matter which two teams qualified for the final it was always going to be a problematic location. For fans to arrive on site and discover that the pitch was so far from the stands was the final kick in the teeth. Once UEFA insisted on a final in Azerbaijan, then the least they could have done was stage it in a football ground.

Wolves fans will have watched on with interest. The Europa League, unlike the more illustrious Champions League, really is a winner-takes-all competition. The rewards for qualifying and then progressing in the Champions League are many. Even for those clubs who exit after the group stages, participation has been worthwhile. Qualification for the Champions League group stages is worth £15million, with a further £2.5m on offer per victory and around £900,000 per draw.

Then there is the guarantee of at least one prestigious fixture in those group stages and, owing to the nature of the qualification process, the many far flung destinations are likely to have been whittled out by the group stages. By the time of the knockout rounds, the only teams left are generally the established European elite.

The same cannot be said of the Europa League, which offers just £2.8m for progression to the group stages and £500,000 per victory in those groups.

Arsenal, in a losing cause, faced group opponents from Azerbaijan, Portugal and Ukraine, home and away. Those Thursday night group fixtures had an adverse impact on their Premier League campaign. They won just three out of six matches in the Premier League straight after a European match.

After topping their group, Arsenal then faced opposition from Belarus in the round of 32. It was only by the last-16 stages onwards that the away trips became more straightforward, with French, Italian and Spanish opposition ahead of Wednesday’s final.

The question of Wolves’ participation in the Europa League next season can be addressed in two ways. For most, qualification is another exiting step on the journey and should be relished. After a wait of 39 years for European competition, now is not the time to baulk at the opportunity.

Others, concerned at the effects of Europa League football on Burnley this season, believe it is too much too soon.

Sean Dyche’s side did not have the numbers or adaptability to compete. The Clarets had to play six games between July 26th and August 30th. Robbed of much of their pre-season, where hugely important tactical and conditioning work is done, they entered the Premier League season on the back foot and spent the entire domestic campaign in a desperate relegation fight.

Wolves cannot possibly enter next season with a squad as small as their current one. At times this season, Nuno Espirito Santo has been working with just 16 players. It is the way he likes it and there have been clear benefits in this approach.

But it is unsustainable when European football is involved. It will be a fascinating time, watching on to see how the club adapts to this fresh challenge.

History does not judge first time Europa League entrants well since the rebranding of the tournament in 2009/10. Fulham set an early benchmark, reaching the final and finishing 12th in the Premier League that season. Ask any Fulham fan and they will look back on their Europa League season as one of the greatest in history. But that is where the good news ends.

Birmingham City’s participation in 2011/12 ran parallel with their failure to gain promotion from the Championship. The following season Newcastle’s run to the quarter-finals saw them slump from fifth to 16th in the Premier League. Hull were relegated in 2014/15 after a season that began with Europa League preliminary round qualification matches.

Swansea and Southampton were admirable exceptions but left the Europa League at the round of 32 and group stages respectively.

Progress in the tournament can certainly be costly. There will be much planning and agonising within the Wolves management about the best way forward next season.

Wolves have shown over this last 12 months that they are in every tournament to progress as far as they can. Nuno will be taking the same approach to Europe, but do not necessarily expect a smooth ride in a competition that has taken many casualties down the years.