Chelsea will spend next season playing in the Europa League, having finished fifth after a miserable 3-0 loss at Newcastle United.

Chelsea produced an abject performance as they missed out on a place in next season's Champions League by going down 3-0 at Newcastle United on Sunday.

Antonio Conte's side went into their final Premier League match of the season needing a win and a slip-up from Liverpool to book a place in the top four, but the deposed champions failed to keep up their end of the bargain.

Liverpool's 4-0 victory over Brighton and Hove Albion meant Chelsea would have had to settle for Europa League football even if they left St James' Park with three points, but the limp nature of their performance will provide concerns ahead of the FA Cup final against Manchester United next weekend.

Conte, whose uncertain future at the club is expected to be clarified before the end of the month, suggested at his pre-match news conference that missing out on the top four would not hurt the Blues, and his team evidently lacked the desire to make a fist of a late challenge.

Chelsea failed to register a single shot at goal in the first half and Dwight Gayle gave Newcastle a deserved lead in the 23rd minute, putting Rafael Benitez on the path to a first Premier League win against one of his former clubs, as well as a 10th-place finish.

Gayle went off injured early in the second period but a four-minute double from Ayoze Perez saw the Magpies home for a comfortable victory, with FA Cup glory unlikely to be enough to remove the bitter taste for Chelsea and keep Conte at Stamford Bridge next season.