There are few things better than a good comeback story, and one of those few things is a good underdog story. In that spirit, let’s take a look at seven teams that failed to qualify for the Champions League in the 2024/25 season but are currently in a position – or within striking distance – of Champions League qualification next season.
Of course, there are much more than just seven teams in Champions League contention for 2025/26 who missed out this season, but since seven is a lucky number and my fingers – and possibly your brains – are uninterested in an even lengthier list, we’ll settle on lucky number seven (as an homage to Mariano Diaz, if you’d like).
Chelsea
Chelsea aren’t so much of a feel-good story as they are an “Empire Strikes Back” kind of vibe. The Blues actually went from the champions of Europe in 2020/21 under Thomas Tuchel to an outright laughingstock in the last two seasons since the Todd Boehly takeover, with the American owner running through managers, including Tuchel, as if they were scratch-off lottery tickets.
And that same analogy is befitting of his scattergun approach to the transfer market, which, based on sheer investment, has yielded its inevitable fruits this season under new manager Enzo Maresca, who arrived at Stamford Bridge with no shortage of skepticism.
Yet this is undeniably the best Chelsea have looked since the Boehly ownership era began, with record signing Moises Caicedo joining 2023/24 breakout superstar Cole Palmer as a man who can legitimately call himself one of the best players in the Premier League here in 2024/25.
As it stands after 12 Matchdays, Chelsea have now pulled ahead of arch rivals Arsenal in third in the Premier League, and they are just one point back of a Rodri-less Manchester City.
Chelsea are nowhere near Liverpool in the actual title race, but barring a sudden implosion, the Blues look like safe bets to return to the Champions League, which was once the bare minimum expected of them before they missed out on Europe and could only crawl back to the Conference League this season.
Brighton
Brighton reached the Europa League after the 2022/23 season in what was a historic accomplishment under Roberto De Zerbi, who will come up later in this article.
De Zerbi could not repeat the trick in 2023/24 and was a legitimate disappointment, and it was actually for the better that he decided to part ways for another club, turning Marseille into something resembling a penal colony.
Regardless, Brighton are actually better in 2024/25 than they were in 2022/23 under De Zerbi, and that’s largely thanks to new coach Fabian Hurzeler, who is far less problematic and at least as tactically brilliant as his predecessor.
The former St. Pauli coach was buoyed by a very productive summer transfer window, as Brighton signed some of European football’s most talented hidden gems like Celtic’s Matt O’Riley and Mainz’s Brajan Gruda.
Many of those signings have yet to show their best level, and still another Brighton star attacker, Facundo Buonanotte, is on loan keeping Leicester City alive. So Brighton, tied on points with fourth-placed Arsenal, if anything, are more likely to go up than down – at least on paper.
Brighton are on the cusp of the Premier League top four, just ahead of Tottenham by three points. They have one of the league’s best young forwards in Joao Pedro and one of the league’s best old forwards in Danny Welbeck.
And they are contending for the Champions League again despite losing their best player, Pascal Gross, to a team that is now notorious for poaching other people’s best players and ruining them, Borussia Dortmund.
Fiorentina
David de Gea’s resurgence in Florence has been one of the best storylines in European football this season, but you could argue that it has been surpassed by the renaissance of his own Viola teammate, Moise Kean.
Written off as a bust by Juventus after a couple of putrid seasons following a brief glimmer of hope in Paris, Kean has been one of the best strikers in Serie A this season, answering a question mark at the 9 that Fiorentina previously hoped Arthur Cabral and Luka Jovic could answer. (Obviously neither of them could).
Kean is leading the line for a Fiorentina side that is fourth in the table and one of four teams tied on points with 28, just a single point behind Antonio Conte’s resurgent Napoli.
He’s not the only attacking threat worth watching. New playmaker Andrea Colpani is one of Italy’s best despite a complete lack of mainstream attention, while Yacine Adli and Lucas Beltran both have five goal contributions each.
With the way Fiorentina are flying and pummeling their opponents, you wouldn’t want to bet against them securing a spot in the Champions League, and I’m sure many neutral fans around the world would smugly smile at the demise of Roma and AC Milan after how disloyal their rubbish ownership groups have been to club icons.
Napoli
Napoli lost Luciano Spalletti thanks to the arrogance of a certain decision-maker whose name is no longer even worth risking Carpal Tunnel for (though, ironically, this took more words to type out, but it was worth it out of spite) and predictably imploded as a result.
Gone are the miscreants of yesteryear like Rudi Garcia and in the door is a competent, albeit volatile, coach in Antonio Conte. The former Tottenham and Inter Milan manager has practically willed Napoli to first despite Alessandro Buongiorno being the only truly noteworthy summer signing.
But when Buongiorno is the best center back in Serie A and has filled the shoes of Kim Min-jae more than adequately, that does end up meaning a lot. What makes Napoli’s turnaround from eighth to first all the more impressive is the fact that they are doing it without the best striker in the league, Victor Osimhen.
Whether or not Osimhen plays another minute for the Partenopei is irrelevant at this point, because he was never their first, second, or even third most important player, as evidenced by their return to success without him.
What Napoli need to make sure of, however, is that the other forwards around Khvicha Kvaratskhelia play to their potential, because, as we saw in last season’s collapse from champions to not even qualifying for Europe, the Georgian sensation can’t carry the team on his own.
Eintracht Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt are now the ones with the biggest sensation in European football this season, as they have taken Omar Marmoush from one of a handful of players competing for the honor of being the Bundesliga’s most underrated attacker to outright outperforming Jamal Musiala and Harry Kane as the best player in the league.
That’s obviously no slight on Kane or Musiala, who have both been strong this season, but rather a testament to Marmoush’s excellence, which includes single-handedly willing a point over Bayern Munich earlier this season with flawless execution on the counter.
Marmoush has helped push Eintracht to second with 23 points, and it’s hard to envision them collapsing to Dortmund or any of the other fairly average teams creeping on the bubble of the top four.
The league leader in assists with seven, Marmoush is already one goal away (11) from matching last season’s career high of 12 in his first season in Frankfurt, and papers are already calling him the heir to Mohamed Salah in Liverpool.
Of course, Marmoush isn’t the only player responsible for Frankfurt sitting in second. Kevin Trapp is still one of the league’s best keepers, Tuta and Ellyes Shkiri are chipping in defensively, and former Dortmund prospects Mario Gotze and Ansgar Knauff round out a solid supporting cast.
Am I forgetting someone? Anyone else? Oh, right, yeah, that Hugo Ekitike guy is pretty good. Makes you wonder why on earth PSG thought it was a better idea to spend 95 million euros on Randal Kolo Muani than keep Ekitike, who cost Frankfurt 16.5 million euros.
Basically, Frankfurt swapped strikers and got the younger and better one for about 80 million euros less. Just for that, they deserve to qualify for the Champions League and take PSG’s spot.
Marseille
Speaking of taking PSG’s spot, while eternal rivals Marseille are highly unlikely to do that – and already got blown out by the Parisians this season in their own house – it would be a surprise if they didn’t return to the Champions League next season.
Marseille have a lot in common with Napoli. They were eighth last season, they have an impassioned fanbase that expects them to make it to the Champions League, and they have a controversial coach who doesn’t get along with people in the front office for very long before leaving in a final blaze of incompetence.
The difference is that Marseille are worse than Napoli. Both in the fact that they aren’t serious contenders to win their league and in the fact that they employ some rather unscrupulous (to put it diplomatically) characters, such as Mason Greenwood, who was charged with attempted rape and assault in 2022.
They also employ Elye Wahi, who has multiple allegations of assault perpetrated by him, and Amine Harit, who killed a pedestrian while driving recklessly. It is quite the sight to see a team employing all three of these individuals.
Marseille might not even make it to the Champions League. They sit in third with Nice and Lille within three points of them. But Marseille have a talented squad and a brilliant manager, controversial as they are.
And not everyone on their team is deserving of negativity. Jon Rowe and Luis Henrique have been great stories, and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s bounce back after being pushed out by Tottenham deserves some love.
Villarreal
With a shoutout to Osasuna and Athletic Club, who are both within three points of Villarreal in the table, let’s give some love to LaLiga, which is usually good for a thrilling battle for European places.
Villarreal won the Europa League over Manchester United in 2021 under Unai Emery, but they actually haven’t finished in the top four of the Spanish league since 2015/16 when a 30-year-old Roberto Soldado led them with 10 assists – and Alphonse Areola was their goalkeeper. What a time.
Even Emery couldn’t produce results in the league for Villarreal, but once they get into European tournaments, they tend to be dominant. Over the past few years, Villarreal have produced some of the continent’s best prospects, but they’ve lost them quickly.
Nicolas Jackson and Filip Jorgensen immediately moved to Chelsea once people in the Premier League learned they were really good, and Pau Torres jumped from Villarreal to Aston Villa to join forces with Emery.
Villarreal will hope they can finish out strong, finally get back to the Champions League based on league placement, and then hold onto their current crop of young stars – most namely Alex Baena, who is prized by Premier League clubs beyond just Emery’s Villa.
The real underdog story within the underdog story here, though, is long-time Premier League attacker Ayoze Perez. A solid player in England for years for Leicester City and Newcastle, Perez moved to his home country with Real Betis, scored nine goals last season, and now is already at seven in his first year with Villarreal.
With an average of 1.22 goals per 90 minutes, Perez has been one of the most prolific forwards in LaLiga, making Kylian Mbappe eat his heart out in Madrid. And soon, the 31-year-old could be headed to the Champions League for the first time in his career.
