As the hype has been building up in the recent weeks, we finally call curtains on an enthralling season! All to play for on the last day of the season in major leagues across Europe. Let’s break it down, one by one 😎
The Premier League kept their promise and finished off their season with fans in stands in some capacity. The newly crowned champions Manchester City demolished Everton 5-0 at Ethiad Stadium and now find wind in their sails as they try to complete their “Treble” with a Champions League win over Chelsea. Second placed Manchester United gave their young guns another run out and beat Wolves 2-1, who will part ways with their iconic manager Nuno Espirito Santo at the end of this season! Liverpool capped off a fine run of form winning five straight games to beat Crystal Palace 2-0 which will be the last game for Gini Wijnaldum in the famous red shirt. Liverpool grabbed the third place with Chelsea losing 2-1 to Aston Villa and Leicester City missed out on Champions League football again with a 2-4 home loss to Tottenham after being 2-1 up in the second half. West Ham United finished sixth, their best in recent decades, and now will participate in the Europa league next season after beating Southampton 3-0. Spurs winning at Leicester meant Tottenham will get a chance to participate in the inaugural Conference League next season while Arsenal finished eighth and will miss out on any European club competition next season. Harry Kane won the Golden Boot with 23 goals while Ederson won the Golden Glove with 19 clean sheets!
The excitement continues into Spain as La Liga was still searching to crown a champion on the final day of their season ! In the end it was the perseverance of Luis Suarez led Atletico Madrid that pulled out a 2-1 win after being behind against Real Valladolid and are now the newly crowned champions of Spain. In they end it was too much work for their cross town rivals, Real Madrid, as they end the season second and without any trophy. The Copa Del Rey champs Barcelona won 1-0 at Eibar to finish the season in third place ahead of Sevilla in fourth. Lionel Messi is once again, the top scorer in Spain and finished the campaign with 30 goals and 9 assists.
Like in Spain, France too awaited its champion for the 2020-21 Ligue 1 season. At the end, Cristophe Galtier’s Lille are champions of France for the first time in 10 years, after beating Angers 2-1. PSG won on the night, beating Brest 2-0, but it wasn’t enough to secure what would have been their tenth title.
Inter Milan, the newly crowned champs of Italy, thrashed Udinese 5-1. Their cross town rivals, A.C. Milan faced a tough matchup against Atalanta for the second spot in the league table. Thanks to two penalties scored by Frank Kassie, the seven time winners A.C. Milan returned to Champions League football after seven years of absence! Napoli, who had the easier game relatively, ended up drawing 1-1 against Hellas Verona which meant Juventus leapfrogged ahead of them in fourth. Juventus beat Bologna 4-1 which people say could be the final game for Andre Pirlo as their coach. Cristiano Ronaldo was an unused sub in this game ? ( Injury ? On his way out ? 🧐). Lazio lost 2-0 to Sassuolo and will find themselves in the Europa League next season.
Bayern Munich bagged yet another Bundesliga title with their main man, Robert Lewandowski finished the season with an astonishing 41 goals 😍. Ballon D’Or for him this year maybe ? Red Bull Leipzig had yet another successful campaign coming second ahead of Borussia Dortmund in third. Leipzig’s manager, Julian Nagelsmann, will now join Bayern Munich next season. Wolfsburg will play Champions League football next season after finishing fourth, ahead of Eintracht Frankfurt by one point.
Yes, this season is over. Yes all players now get their much deserved rest after a hectic season of relentless football. And Yes, we have more football coming our way 😋 With most nations announcing their 26-man Euro squads by June 1st, we are set for the Europe’s most anticipated football competition this summer beginning June 11th. Stay tuned for more updates next week !
Ball in the Net 