European football has been full of incredible stories this season, and while we're all aware of the Manchester City - Liverpool battle, it's time to look at some drama from across the continent.
Today we're rounding up the champions, relegated squads and those who qualify for Europa and Champions league football.
Serie A
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Juventus managed to win their eighth straight title in Serie A, with Napoli unable to sustain their competitive pace from the year before. Ronaldo added 21 goals to his tally but was only fourth on the top scorer list with Fabio Quagliarella taking first with 26 goals in total.
There have been plenty of upsets with both AC Milan and Roma missing out on Champions League spots. The story of the season however, must go to Atalanta who finished third and will be participating in their first Champions League competition, which is slight compensation after losing Coppa Italia to Lazio. This year, Chievo, Frosinone and Empoli were sadly the teams to be relegated.
La Liga
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Barcelona came out on top to win their eighth title in the last 11 years with little competition from the two Madrid clubs, who nevertheless qualified for Champions League rather comfortably. Lionel Messi secured the European golden shoe award with 36 league goals.
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Valencia enjoyed a remarkable second half of the season to snatch fourth place and make it into Europe’s top competition for a second year running, after a terrible run of results that saw calls for manager Marcelino to lose his job before Christmas. Not only that, but they just beat Barcelona in the Copa del Rey to lift their first silverware in over a decade.
Getafe, so close to a remarkable story, have to settle for the Europa League along with Sevilla. Promoted sides Rayo Vallecano and Huesca went straight back down, along with Girona.
Bundesliga
Bayern Munich had to work hard for their eighth straight title this season after a strong challenge from Dortmund took things down to the wire. Niko Kovac’s side made it a domestic double with a 3-0 win over RB Leipzig in the DFB-Pokal final. Leipzig boasted the best defense in the Bundesliga and achieved their goal, finishing third.
Bayer Leverkusen, managed by former Dortmund and Ajax boss Peter Bosz, finished fourth. After a remarkable campaign, Eintracht Frankfurt missed out on Europe altogether, as Borussia Monchengladbach and Wolfsburg qualified for the Europa League in fifth and sixth. FC Nuremberg and Hannover were relegated, while Stuttgart face a play-off against Union Berlin.
Ligue 1
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PSG continued to dominate, finishing 16 points clear and wrapping the title up in March. Kylian Mbappe’s stratospheric rise continued as he finished top scorer with 33 goals. PSG however, did miss out on Coupe de France after losing the final on penalties to Rennes and they exited the Coupe de la Ligue early, which was eventually won by Strasbourg.
Lille, who battled relegation after sacking Marcelo Bielsa last season, were the runners-up and Lyon finished comfortably in third. In fourth, Saint-Etienne made the Europa League ahead of Marseille. Monaco finished just two points clear of the bottom three in the end. Guingamp and Caen were relegated, while Dijon must play a relegation play-off against Lens.
Eredivisie
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Ajax put themselves in a position for the historic treble but were snubbed by Tottenham in the Champions League. Their latest golden generation won both domestic competitions, ending a five-year trophy drought and sparking ecstatic celebrations in the Dutch capital.
PSV finished just three points behind with a relentless pace at the top and will go into the qualifiers for the Champions League, while Feyenoord and AZ Alkmaar qualified for Europa. NAC Breda finished bottom and Excelsior will join them on the way down, having lost the relegation play-off to RKC Waalwijk.
Primeira Liga
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Benfica took the top of the table just two points ahead of Porto this year and will go straight into the group stages while Sérgio Conceição’s runners-up are going into the qualifying round.
Sporting finished third and won the Taça de Portugal by beating the champions on penalties in the final. Braga and Vitória de Guimarães could join them in the Europa League, as they go into the qualifiers. At the other end, Feirense, Nacional and Chaves were relegated.
Turkish Süper Lig
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Giants Galatasaray retained the title but were made to work for it as Istanbul upstarts Başakşehir spent the majority of the season in the top spot.
Still, Başakşehir go into Champions League qualification. Beşiktaş have to settle for the Europa League and could be joined by Trabzonspor and Yeni Malatyaspor, as the last of the big three while Fenerbahçe missed out altogether. Akhisarspor, BB Erzurumspor and Bursaspor went down.
So that wraps up this year’s leagues. Who were you betting on to win and did things go the way you thought they would? As we take a break before the start of the next season, now’s the time to analyse performance, keep an eye on the transfer market and start planning your bets for the 2019-20 season, at Betway Ghana
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