Right at the end of the season, with nothing to play for, Manchester City fans have only three games to soldier through before they put to sleep this disappointment of a season and look forward to a summer of change and a new season of hope.

Next up is QPR, and there will be no repeat of 2012’s end of the season clash against the London club at the Etihad when Aguero snatched the Premier League title out of Alex Ferguson’s grasp in added time.

No, this time the atmosphere will be flat. But actually, City’s season is not done yet.

It might not matter much to City fans or even the club itself, but City will have a big say in the doling out of Europa League places between now and the end of the season.

Last week, City beat Tottenham who remain only a point ahead of Southampton as a result. That’s the race for 6th. A Europa League place could still go to 7th place. And that’s where it gets interesting, strangely. Because it’s not totally sewn up for Southampton just yet.

And that’s because Southampton go to Manchester City on the final day after games against relegation-threatened yet on-form Leicester City in Leicester and Aston Villa in Southampton. So Saints don’t have the easiest of run-ins.

Spurs, meanwhile face Stoke, Hull and Everton. Not that they’re the easiest games to have either, but Everton and Stoke have little to play for at the moment, though I’d put Hull in the same category as Leicester and Villa. They could spring a surprise.

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So neither of the Europa League chasing teams have their final three games sewn up, and both could drop points. In the race for 6th, Southampton’s final day showdown with City at the Etihad could be crucial.

But there’s still a race for 7th that no one is talking about.

Partly this is because we’re not certain that 7th place will yield a Europa League spot at the end of the season. An Aston Villa FA Cup win would see 7th place disappointed. And it’s partly because the focus has been on Southampton and Spurs for so long.

But Swansea aren’t out of it yet - it’s unlikely, but they can’t be written off. They sit four points behind Southampton and five behind Spurs.

Their last three games are daunting, though. Away to Arsenal, home to Manchester City and away to Crystal Palace.

But if they win all three, they could probably consider themselves unlucky not to overtake one of the teams in front and finish 7th.

And it’s not impossible. City have little to play for, Arsenal are in the same boat. They might be motivated by the thought of having to qualify for the Champions League if they finish 4th, but that’s nothing compared with the motivation of actually finishing in Europe or not.

So there’s a race for Europe happening. Liverpool may still harbour hopes of catching Manchester United, and Swansea - albeit with harder fixtures - may just hold out hope of catching Southampton.

And so it’s Manchester City who will have a big say in where those places end up. After Southampton’s defeat to Sunderland, they remain only a point behind Spurs because City won at White Hart Lane. And City will also have a part to play in the final fixtures of Swansea and of Southampton.

It’s interesting that each club has to play the deposed Champions. But it’s more interesting still that City aren’t competing for anything at this stage of the season. That means we can’t predict their form. They can still play brilliantly - as they did at times against Spurs - or they could completely capitulate.

So both Saints and Swansea have a chance to beat them, yet it’ll be tough for both teams. It’s entirely possible that Swansea beat City at the Liberty Stadium, but Saints come up short at the Etihad.

So the race for the Europa League is still on, and we’ll be watching all the fixtures with an interested eye. But it’s events involving Manchester City that seem to add spice to this race, so we’ll be watching them with more attention than possibly even their fans will be over the next three matchdays. There’s still lots to play for in games involving City, but it’s just not City that are bothered, really.

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