All aboard Rayanair, the airline of choice projected on to a giant flag with which Bournemouth’s players celebrated and one cherry-picked for their first European adventure. There was an inflatable plane bobbing around the away end and, for long periods, their unlikely Champions League dream was on. The Europa League will have to suffice. Andoni Iraola, whose name was serenaded on loop, will exit the stage having led Bournemouth to sixth, their best finish, a record points tally of 57 and having secured European football for the first time in the club’s history.
It does not sound too bad. This result was quickly rendered redundant by Brighton imploding at home to Manchester United but Aston Villa’s shock win at Manchester City and Liverpool’s failure to beat Brentford denied Iraola the perfect ending.
This draw at Forest, who led through a Morgan Gibbs-White free-kick, means Bournemouth completed the second round of fixtures unbeaten, a run that goes back to last year. “I think it’s the most incredible achievement,” Iraola said. A swell of Forest fans even applauded Bournemouth off.
For Gibbs-White, it was a decent response to being left out of the England squad despite 19 Premier League goal contributions, including 15 goals. Only Erling Haaland, Igor Thiago and Antoine Semenyo finished with a better goal return. One of those in Thomas Tuchel’s 26-man squad, Elliot Anderson, departed the pitch midway through the second half to a standing ovation, this probably his final Forest game; City, despite Pep Guardiola’s exit, are thought to be at the front of the queue for the midfielder.
“I know I have done more than enough to be in the squad,” Gibbs-White said. “I just got on the wrong side of someone’s opinion. I have been on the wrong side of people’s opinions throughout my career so I’m only going to bounce back. We had a good conversation. I respect him for calling me and telling the news. I agreed with what he had to say. I’m glad the season is behind us now.”
At half-time it appeared the dominoes were falling into place and approaching the hour the Cherries’ supporters sang of Bayern Munich and Barcelona but ultimately they will have to lower their sights to clubs such as Bayer Leverkusen and Besiktas.
That should not prove too painful given their incredible journey to this point but that there was a tinge of disappointment at not qualifying for the Champions League says everything about their rise. Four years ago they were in the Championship and 17 years ago were on the brink of going bust.
Champions League Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Aston Villa, Liverpool
Europa League Bournemouth, Sunderland (Crystal Palace will also play in the Europa League if they win the Conference League final on Wednesday)
Conference League Brighton
No defender in the Premier League covered more ground than Adrien Truffert this campaign and the Frenchman – surely one of the signings of the season since his £11m move from Rennes – was the catalyst for Bournemouth’s leveller. Rather than admire his pass to Marcus Tavernier, Truffert burst forward on the overlap, outmuscling Jair Cunha on the byline, from where the left-back pulled the ball back for an unmarked Tavernier to rifle in a first-time strike past Matz Sels.
Now Bournemouth just needed results elsewhere to go in their favour to bag a spot in Europe’s premier club competition. At first, things seemed to be going to plan, Curtis Jones opening the scoring for Liverpool in the second half, a goal soon relayed to the sun-drenched away end here. United were 3-0 up at Brighton. Ollie Watkins had levelled for Villa but, with an hour gone, all Bournemouth required was a winner for Guardiola’s side. Earlier in the day the visiting fans had cheered Semenyo’s first-half opener against Villa. “I celebrated a little bit when City went to 2-2 but it was disallowed,” Iraola said.
Watkins’s second goal at City, for a team who spent the early hours of Thursday morning partying with Prince William in Istanbul, was not part of the script. Bournemouth had chances to seize the lead, the substitute Ben Gannon-Doak fluffing his lines and earlier carving their Brazilian Rayan a shooting opportunity from the edge of the box. Sels saved smartly from Eli Junior Kroupi, arguably the jewels in this dynamic Bournemouth side, and Gibbs-White went close at the other end.
Both teams have been on quite the ride, Forest cycling through four managers and reaching a Europa League semi-final, Bournemouth’s ending in joy. “I think I enjoyed every second with the fans, the players,” Iraola said of the full-time celebrations. “It is so nice to finish like this. I’ve seen a lot of Basque flags, I saw a lot of people who have supported me these three years. There is some champagne now in the changing room and the players will celebrate.”
Iraola’s future is unclear, but he will remain in Bournemouth until July owing to his children’s school term. Marco Rose, his successor, has meetings in Bournemouth on Monday, when the club have a staff celebration on the beachfront.
“I will take my time to make a decision,” said Iraola, who is Crystal Palace’s No 1 target but also has interest from Bayer Leverkusen. “I want to continue as a head coach, we will see what we will decide. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Asked whether he had absorbed the scale of his achievements, the 43-year-old replied: “That’s probably one of the reasons why I’m leaving, because it’s been so nice and before maybe regretting it next year, I wanted to finish it here – because you cannot ask for more.”
