Sunderland’s massive 2-1 win over Chelsea on final day means they will play in the Europa League next season.
The Black Cats seem to have a knack for beating the Blues in high-stakes situations. It happened in 2014 when they were battling relegation and handed Jose Mourinho his first ever Premier League defeat at Stamford Bridge.
They fell behind after Samuel Eto’o scored but won thanks to Fabio Borini and Connor Wickham’s goals. Today, they hosted Chelsea with both sides needing a result in order to secure European football next season. Once again, Sunderland prevailed – and will now play in the Europa League.
How have Sunderland gone from the Championship to the Europa League in two years?
Regis Le Bris overachieving heroics
Regis Le Bris went down a division after leaving relegated Ligue 1 side Lorient and joining Sunderland who were already in the Championship.
He had a good record working with youngsters and playing a fast, direct and entertaining brand of football. They had a good young core with the likes of Jack Clarke – who then joined Ipswich Town -, Trai Hume, Jobe Bellingham, Daniel Ballard, Chris Rigg, among others.
It looked like the logical next step for the Black Cats after Tony Mowbray’s spell and it clicked immediately. They lost just four of their first 32 league games and were right in the mix alongside the immaculate top-three of Leeds United, Burnley and Sheffield United.
Bet £10 & Get £30 in Free Bets with Bet365
Not signed up to bet365 yet? Here's how to claim one of the best bookmaker welcome offers around...
- Open an account (here's a link)
- Make a qualifying deposit of between £5* and £10*
- Claim the offer to receive three times your deposit in 'Free Bets'.
- To release your 'Free Bets', place qualifying bets to the value of your qualifying deposit and allow those bets to settle.
- Your 'Free Bets' will become available shortly after your qualifying bets have settled
- To use your 'Free Bets', select 'Use bet credits' in the bet slip.
Min deposit requirement. Free Bets are paid as Bet Credits and are available for use upon settlement of qualifying bets. Min odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. Time limits and T&Cs apply.
However, things took a turn for the worse and they endured a campaign of four wins, two draws and eight losses – including five straight – to end the season.
Sunderland would then face a high-flying Coventry City, who looked rejuvenated after Frank Lampard took over. And then possibly the best ever third-placed team in Championship history in Chris Wilder’s Blades. And Le Bris’ men beat both those sides in dramatic fashion with stoppage-time winners at Stadium of Light and Wembley.
Before that, he had already taken over at Lorient fresh off a 16th-place finish following a relegation scrap to 10th in his first managerial job. And now, Sunderland from the second tier to the Europa League. He did it again.
Recruitment
Of course, Le Bris didn’t do it all by himself. The Black Cats had a very light-weight team in the Championship with fast, shifty and technical players. They needed more phisicality to compete in the top flight.
So the board acted well in the margins to aggregate talent from lesser leagues – especially the Eredivisie. Robin Roefs, Brian Brobbey and Bertrand Traore all joined from the Dutch top division. Belgium was another target, with Chemsdine Talbi leaving Club Brugge and Noah Sadiki leaving Union Saint-Gilloise.
They also managed to poach players from the top-five leagues but at low prices. Reinildo Mandava left Atletico Madrid on a free and Getafe asked for just over £10 million to let Omar Alderete go. Lutsharel Geertruida joined on loan from RB Leipzig and Nordi Mukiele from PSG for €12 million.
Sky Bet Offer: Get £40 in free bets when you place any bet
Looking for some free bets to boost your betting fund? Sky Bet are offering customers the chance to get £40 in free bets when they sign up and place any qualifying bet.
- Sign up at Sky Bet using this link
- Place a qualifying bet of at least 5p on a single or each way bet at odds of 1/1 or greater, as your first bet
- Claim your £40 free bet bonus
18+ NEW CUSTOMERS ONLY. FIRST SINGLE & E/W BET ONLY ODDS OF 1/1 OR GREATER. 4 X £10 BET TOKENS. FREE BET STAKES NOT INCLUDED IN RETURNS. FREE BETS ARE NON WITHDRAWABLE. FREE BETS ARE NON WITHDRAWABLE. FREE BETS EXPIRE AFTER 30 DAYS. ELIGIBILITY RESTRICTIONS AND FURTHER T&CS APPLY.
Overall they spent around £155 million in 14 signings during the summer transfer window. It’s a huge sum of money, of course, but on an average of £11 million per player.
Not only did they manage to find talent for what is now considered cheap in modern football, and also elevate the physical level of the squad, but found many players capable of performing many roles.
Over the course of the 2025-26 Premier League season, Mukiele played in all positions available down the right-hand side while spending half the time at centre-back.
Geertruida might be the most impressive one of all – maybe in the whole division. He featured in a whopping eight different positions for at least half an hour.
And, of course, well-known swiss-army knives Trai Hume and Luke O’Nien. Both have been at Sunderland for a long time and have played multiple roles over the years. They did it again during this Premier League campaign.
All of this also shows how adaptable and flexible Le Bris is tactically. Opta logged six different starting formations for Sunderland this campaign – the most of any side in the top-10.
They ranked 16th in possession this season (45%) but managed to win seven games in which they had more of the ball in a tied game state and seven with less possession with the match tied.
Dominating possession isn’t their usual plan A, but they are certainly able to play like that as well. Statistically, in fact, they fared better as the controlling side (W7 D2 L4 with 50%+ possession when the match is tied) than the other way around (W7 D10 L8 with 50%- possession when the match is tied).
Granit Xhaka’s impact
But the most important signing of all was Granit Xhaka. Sunderland’s project was good enough to attract a starter from a record-breaking Bundesliga side in Bayer Leverkusen, who finished 1st and 2nd in both his seasons there.
Before we mention his impact on the pitch, let’s start with what happened when he wasn’t out there. Xhaka picked up an ankle injury that kept him on the sidelines for just over a month between January and February.
He missed four complete Premier League matches – of which the Black Cats won one and lost three. He came back against Fulham and came on in the second half when they were already losing 0-2. They drew his minutes 1-1 and eventually lost 1-3.
It’s no coincidence what was probably their worst stretch of the season came when he was mostly unavailable.
Xhaka was one of only eight midfielders that won 60%+ of their aerial (61%) and ground (60%) duels this past campaign.
Not only did the Swiss lead Sunderland as captain, but also in a number of different statistics.
The fact that the Black Cats’ top goalscorer was Brian Brobbey with seven – the second fewest of any top scorer for a single side (four players with three each for relegated Wolves) highlights the collective value of this Sunderland team.
Of course, they will need to improve even more next year to handle multiple competitions. But Le Bris himself, who had failed to get better in the second season at Lorient, has just done that at Sunderland. Now he has the chance to outdo himself yet again.