It was business as usual for Europe's big leagues in the post World Cup season.

Europe's current juggernauts, Chelsea, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Paris St Germain were all crowned champion in pretty straightforward style and none of them needed the final round of games to decide their fate - indeed, this season was devoid of the thrilling finale that the Premier League and La Liga had the season before.

Thankfully, there's more to football than just watching the champions - otherwise, following the likes of Bayern Munich and Juventus dominate their leagues over the last few seasons would induce instant boredom.

Indeed, this season witnessed plenty of revivals of former champions.

PSV Eindhoven won their first Dutch league title in several years, breaking the recent domination of Ajax Amsterdam. 10 years ago, PSV were minutes away from meeting Liverpool in the Champions League Final, only for AC Milan to score a late away goal to go through. However, with Dutch football much further behind the rest of Europe - and star striker, Memphis Depay heading to Manchester United - it will be difficult to see PSV be competitive against the giants of Europe.

Around the same time, Lyon were in the middle of their dominance of French football that not even PSG can boast about for all their wealth. After 7 titles in a row, Lyon's decline began and 2nd behind eventual champions, Marseille in 2009-10 would be their best result over the next 6 seasons. This season saw a OL revival which only faded right at the end of the season and cost them the Ligue 1 title to billionaires, Paris St Germain.

Another former champion, Valencia, made the most of their new found wealth from Singapore and returned to the Champions League with an exciting young lineup led by young Spanish striker, Paco Alcacer. They were easily the 4th best team in Spain behind Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, a side that they will hope to emulate next season and return to pushing the big city clubs like they did in the last decade.

However, the biggest revival story of this season was the return of Italian football as a respectable force in Europe.

In recent times, Italy's once numero uno Serie A has followed the country's economy into recession, with the likes of Internazionale and AC Milan hitting hard times - both clubs failed to make it into Europe, languishing in midtable. Juventus romped away with the Scudetto in their wake but the Old Lady of Turin struggled to make an impact on Europe until this season, as a determined effort saw them overcome last season's European champions, Real Madrid to book a place in the Final.

A pity that Napoli and Fiorentina both succumbed in the semifinal stages of the Europa League to Sevilla and Dnipro as it would have completed a fine return of form for Italian football - and along with Juve's appearance in Berlin, help boost Italian football's UEFA rankings and gain back another spot in the Champions League.

Italy's Serie A is still a long way from matching the Premier League and Bundesliga for offering a family friendly product as crowd violence and hooliganism in dilapidated stadia continue to be a problem, but the signs are that Serie A's revival is not far away with the likes of AC Milan, Roma, Verona, Lazio, etc. all planning new stadia to be built in the next 5 years.

The season also had its fair share of Cinderellas - most of them failed to meet their prince and missing shoe.

Basque club, Eibar and Northern Rhine club, Paderborn played their first seasons in the top flight and started brightly, only to fade away as fatigue and inexperience took their toll and both were sent back to the 2nd division.

On the other hand, last season's cinderellas, Italy's Sassuolo strengthened as they punched well above their weight and small base to easily secure their status in Serie A and continue to upset the likes of Milan.

However, the Cinderella story of the year in Europe was the rise of the Buffaloes of KAA Ghent to become Belgian champions for the first time in 115 years. Belgian football had always been about big stars playing in the big leagues and the domestic league had been dominated by the likes of Anderlecht from Brussels, Standard Liege from Liege and Club Brugge from Bruges, with pretty little Ghent in the background.

With every revival and Cinderella story, there were stories of decline - some tragic, some dramatic.

Parma's decline from respectable European contenders in Italy to relegation fodder was galling as the club from Emilia-Romagna lurched from financial crisis to another, only just paying its players thanks to donations from other clubs. The future of the former UEFA Cup winners is bleak with questions remaining about their financial viability. They could face a demotion not dissimilar to Fiorentina's at the start of the century.

In Germany, two former champions nearly lurched into disaster that is relegation from the Bundesliga. Stuttgart's late season revival which resulted in survival was remarkable in itself, having spent much of the season at the foot of the Bundesliga, while Hamburger SV once again disappointed and have to play Karlsruher SC to maintain their proud record of never having been relegated from the top flight.

The best players outside the Premier League and the likes of Barca, Real Madrid, PSG, Juventus and Bayern continued to press their cases for future stardom. Lyon's Nabil Fekir is subject to bids from Arsenal while Bayer Leverkusen's Korean star, Son is wanted by Liverpool who are still reeling after letting former target, Memphis Depay head to Manchester United.

Finally, it's time to say adieu, auf wiedersehen and adios. On the same day, Xavi said goodbye to the Camp Nou, Jurgen Klopp, Borussia Dortmund's fine and rugged trainer said goodbye after a tremendous last 7 seasons with the yellow and black giants, to pursue a future of being linked with the likes of Man City, Real Madrid and Liverpool.

Klopp is an absolute genius bringing out the best in youth, epitomising the recent German football revolution. He made Dortmund champions in two seasons and got them to a Champions League final where they only just lost to their rivals, Bayern Munich. He won't be out of a job soon.

So, Europe's football pitches take a break over the summer and the footballers take a well-deserved month break - for those who played in last year's World Cup and went straight back to pre-season training in July, it couldn't come soon enough.

The question remains, will anyone break the juggernaut of Bayern Munich, PSG, Juventus, Real Madrid and Barcelona? Even if they can't, at least they're still thrilling to watch.