Arsenal players can take some consolation from this evening despite their Premier League title hopes taking a huge dent at the hands of Manchester City.
It was a painful night for the Gunners as their 4-1 defeat to Pep Guardiola's side leaves them needing a massive favour from other teams if they are to win their first Premier League title in 19 years.
Goals from John Stones, Erling Haaland and a Kevin De Bruyne brace mean City are just two points off the Gunners - with two games in hand.
However, in the East Midlands, Nottingham Forest's 3-1 victory over Brighton not only boosted the host's chance of Premier League survival, but also was a result of significance for Arsenal.
The result ensured Arsenal have qualified for next season's Champions League.
It is the first time that the Gunners have qualified for Europe's top competition since the 2015-16 season - a campaign where they finished second to Leicester in the Premier League.
The Gunners have not played any Champions League football since their 10-2 aggregate defeat to Bayern Munich in the Round of 16 during the 2016-17 campaign.
Though Brighton were only 8th going into their clash with Nottingham Forest tonight, the fact they have three games in hand over the Gunners gave them extra points to close the gap if Arsenal had suffered a catastrophic collapse in the final weeks of the season.
Arsenal would have aimed for Champions League qualification at the start of the season after narrowly missing out behind their local rivals Tottenham last season.
But given they had an eight point lead over Man City just a matter of weeks ago, there will be more a sense of disappointment after tonight's result, with Guardiola's side now in control of the title fight, and the Gunners have known for some time they would likely be in next season's Champions League.
The Gunners have seen a decline in form in recent weeks with their defeat to City following draws with Liverpool, West Ham and Southampton.
They will now need to win all of their games and hope City drop five points in their final seven matches to claw away the title from the reigning champions.
