{"id":55322,"date":"2025-04-25T18:09:01","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T18:09:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/fa-cup-or-champions-league-qualification-which-means-more"},"modified":"2025-05-09T09:08:30","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T09:08:30","slug":"fa-cup-or-champions-league-qualification-which-means-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/fa-cup-or-champions-league-qualification-which-means-more","title":{"rendered":"FA Cup or Champions League qualification – which means more?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>It’s a big weekend for Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and Manchester City, who are getting ready to play in the semi-finals of the FA Cup at Wembley.<\/p>\n

Three of the four – Forest, Villa and City – are also chasing top-five Premier League finishes that will secure a Champions League place next season.<\/p>\n

But what matters more – winning the FA Cup or qualifying for the Champions League?<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Crystal Palace take on Aston Villa in the first semi-final at 17:15 BST, a match you can watch live on BBC One, iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app.<\/p>\n

The following day Nottingham Forest face Manchester City at 16:30 for a place in the final.<\/p>\n

While the winners of English football’s showpiece final at Wembley on 17 May are guaranteed a major trophy – as well as a place in next season’s Europa League – a top-five finish in the Premier League guarantees at least eight games in Europe’s elite club competition.<\/p>\n

But which is more important?<\/p>\n

“The chance of a trophy is massive, regardless of anything else that is going on,” former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha argues.<\/p>\n

“Lifting silverware gives truly iconic moments.<\/p>\n

“That is the stuff that you remember. For years to come fans recall the starting XIs, the squads, the managers, the run – everything.”<\/p>\n

Major trophy – or Champions League cash?
\nThis season’s FA Cup has produced its fair share of surprises leading to a somewhat unfamiliar look to this weekend’s semi-finals.<\/p>\n

Record 14-time winners Arsenal went out in the third round, Premier League champions-in-waiting Liverpool came unstuck at Plymouth in the fourth round, while last season’s winners Manchester United lost on penalties to Fulham at Old Trafford in the fifth round.<\/p>\n

Crystal Palace are the only one of the four remaining teams not to have won the FA Cup.<\/p>\n

But while Manchester City have won two of the past six finals, it’s been more than 60 years since Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest lifted the prestigious trophy.<\/p>\n

Villa might be seven-time winners but their last FA Cup triumph was in 1956-57.<\/p>\n

Two-time winners Forest have won the European Cup on two occasions since they last won the FA Cup win in 1958-59.<\/p>\n

The FA Cup final, watched by a global television audience of millions, is full of pomp and prestige, while the winners get to claim a major trophy in front of their fans at the national stadium.<\/p>\n

From a financial point of view, however, it is small change compared to the riches of the Champions League.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Lesotho<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. It’s a big weekend for Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and Manchester City, who are getting ready to play in the semi-finals of the FA Cup at Wembley. Three of the four – Forest, Villa and City – are also chasing top-five Premier League finishes that will secure a Champions League […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":55321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[245],"class_list":["post-55322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"\nFA Cup or Champions League qualification - which means more? - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It's a big weekend for Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and Manchester City, who are getting ready to play ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/fa-cup-or-champions-league-qualification-which-means-more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"FA Cup or Champions League qualification - which means more?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It's a big weekend for Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and Manchester City, who are getting ready to play ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/fa-cup-or-champions-league-qualification-which-means-more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-25T18:09:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-09T09:08:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/04\/sm_1745589688.639718.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"976\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"548\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/fa-cup-or-champions-league-qualification-which-means-more#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/fa-cup-or-champions-league-qualification-which-means-more\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"FA Cup or Champions League qualification – which means more?\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-25T18:09:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-09T09:08:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/fa-cup-or-champions-league-qualification-which-means-more\"},\"wordCount\":450,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/fa-cup-or-champions-league-qualification-which-means-more#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/04\/sm_1745589688.639718.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Lesotho\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/fa-cup-or-champions-league-qualification-which-means-more#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/fa-cup-or-champions-league-qualification-which-means-more\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/fa-cup-or-champions-league-qualification-which-means-more\",\"name\":\"FA Cup or Champions League qualification - which means more? 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