European Football Review

So another wacky season of European club football comes to an end and this season has been wackier and more exciting than ever whether it was 2 horse races or well another 2 horse race.

In Spain, the La Liga title race resembled the Scottish Premier League albeit with more quality than the Scots can ever imagine. Real Madrid ultimately triumphed because they were just that bit more consistent than the equally impressive Barcelona and scored a ton of points this season. It was such a shame that they didn't face off for the Champions League title in Munich although it could be the reality check that might work well for the Spaniards in those teams.

The relegation battle in Spain was as intense as ever with relegated Villarreal scoring 40 points, usually enough for survival. Yes, Villarreal got relegated in the same season they played in the Champions League against Bayern Munich and Manchester City. Unbelievable, huh? In fact, the conclusion to their season was very Man City like but not in a very good way for them as they were still safe in injury time until highly unfancied Rayo Vallecano scored a dramatic winner against Granada to seal their Premiera status.

Malaga and Valencia took the other Champions League spots while Atletico Madrid, Levante and Athletic Bilbao will playing Europa League football next season.

In Germany, it was yet another two-horse race, with Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund although it was the northerners who romped away at the finish while Bayern Munich ended up with nothing after taking the early lead. Borussia Dortmund appear to have wrested the psychological advantage that Bayern Munich had over them in previous seasons; Dortmund beat Bayern 1-0 both at home and away and 5-2 in the German Cup Final.

Meanwhile, Hertha Berlin yo-yo'd itself back down to the 2.Fussball-Bundesliga. Having won on the last day to guarantee at least a second chance against promotion chasing Fortuna Duesseldorf, they choked completely and once again Berlin is without a top-flight football team just as its rival, London is finally enjoying overdue European Cup glory.

By the way, Fortuna have a rather impressive looking stadium so teams should look forward to going there. Their nearby rivals, Borussia Moenchengladbach will be hoping that the likes of Man United or Real Madrid will look forward to going to their stadium should they succeed in their UEFA Champions League play-off - a remarkable turnaround for the usual relegation battlers courtesy of a young Marco Reus, who earned himself a call-up to the national mannschaft.

In Italy, yes, you guessed it was another two horse race between Juventus and AC Milan although Juventus looked pretty comfortable all the way and ended the season unbeaten - quite a remarkable record really that has been surprisingly overlooked amidst the hype around the Premier League and La Liga.

Naturally, Juventus won their first Scudetto since their return to the top flight after the match-fixing saga of 2006. It was a triumphant farewell for outgoing legend, Alessandro del Piero, a triumphant welcome for the new Juventus Stadium and a triumphant debut for coach, Antonio Conte. Now one wonders what they will do in this mood in the Champions League next season - I think Premier League clubs may have to worry about another club besides Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Udinese grabbed the final Champions League spot - yes there were only 3 this season, a sign of the times that Italian football isn't what it was, and you might have noticed how Germany got ahead of Italy here.

Elsewhere, quick congratulations to Zenit St Petersburg, Ajax Amsterdam, Galatasaray, Porto, Anderlecht, Cluj and Celtic on becoming champions of their respective countries this season. Woohoo.

And go Motherwell for next season as they somehow try to qualify for the group stages of the Champions League - crikey if they do it, it'll be one heck of an achievement.

Finally, in France, Montpellier caused the mother of all upsets by winning their maiden title on a dramatic and often-interrupted final day - or rather night as all the games were played at night. They beat wealthy, wealthy PSG by 3 points and yes, it wasn't a three horse race as Lille were in the hunt too, getting a Champions League spot for all their troubles. Golly, didn't think French football had its hooligans but obviously what do I know? Auxerre, the club Montpellier had to beat to win the title, got relegated - a surprise really as they were in the Champions League not too long ago!

So for most footballers who aren't playing for some country in Europe, summer is here and it's time to hang up the boots and relax and enjoy what should be a bumper summer before pre-season starts again proper.

But well done to the champions, well done to those who survived and well done to those who made it to the financial riches of the Champions League!