A lot can happen in football in one week. For Brighton that was the difference between FA Cup heartbreak when they were beaten in the semi-final by Man Utd on penalties, followed by a 3-1 defeat to relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest in midweek. That gloom was followed by elation this weekend as they take steps forward in their fight for a space in Europe.

They romped to a 6-0 win over Wolves to put them a step closer to a top-seven finish and their first European qualification in the club’s history. Deniz Undav, Pascal Gross and Danny Welbeck each scored a brace at the Amex Stadium which puts the Seagulls just two points behind fifth-placed Tottenham with two games in hand.

It’s likely that a 7th place finish would earn Europa Conference league football, while finishing fifth or sixth would earn a spot in the Europa League. That will be the goal for Brighton, but they would happily take any taste of European football to give the fans European nights for the first time.

It’s been an exceptional season for Brighton overall and they’ve been playing an exciting style of football which has seen them score 61 goals in 31 games. This would be a worthy addition to European Cups and if they do qualify you would love to see them keep building and improving.

The Premier League is getting more and more competitive with each passing season, and finishing in a European spot is becoming the key target for a lot of the so-called smaller clubs. There are many big spenders in the league now, and you can argue that the classic big six have now become the big seven with Newcastle’s takeover, meaning competition for a top-seven finish means you have to be firing consistently.

It’s interesting to see how competitive the league is becoming at the top, as there is less and less room for the clubs that would consider themselves to be the big teams that are used to winning.

The key thing for Brighton will be to make sure they have built the fundamentals and make sure that European tournaments will not hurt them and they can be competitive in both. This is normally the downside with a lot of clubs that get into Europe, where they struggle with the travelling and playing tasks. It’s very intense so you need a squad that can handle all of that. #mmlove