With club football around Europe wrapping up for another season, we finally have answers to all the questions of titles, relegations and everything in between, allowing us to look ahead to a summer of international games and ridiculous transfer speculation.

At NextGoalWinner, we couldn’t simply let this season go by without a trace, and so in this post, we will document Europe’s top 5 leagues, the winners and the losers from each and anything we learnt along the way. For some, this is a season to savour and enjoy reliving some remarkable moments, for others it’s one to forget and start from scratch in 2021. The summer always seems longer for the losers, however with England heading in battle through the Euro’s, I’m sure the disappointment will be shared across the country before you know it.

Anyways, let’s get on with our round up, and let us know over on Twitter @NextGoalWinBlog of your favourite moments from the season.

Enjoy.

Premier League

At the top of the Premier League, the normality resumed after Liverpool’s title win last season, as Manchester City dominated once again as they managed a league-cup double to add more to their growing trophy collection. Pep’s men strolled to the title in the end, with local rivals Manchester United giving up the race for the top spot weeks prior to the end of the season, and possibly even began looking behind them as they settled on a second place Champions League spot. It wasn’t always plain sailing for the blue side of Manchester, as before Christmas it looked like anyone’s game at the top of the table, with United, Spurs and even Everton enjoying spells at the top throughout the opening half of the season. Despite this wobble, the emergence of several key talents in Dias and Foden really brought City together, and coupled with the brilliance of De Bruyne and the more experienced heads in the side, by February the league was all but mathematically sewn up. Elsewhere around the top of the table, Leicester City missed out on the top 4 on the final day, despite being odds on for Champions League football most of the campaign. It was Liverpool who got their shit together in the end and with the help of a wonder goal (more on that shortly), they pulled it out of the bag and recovered what could have become a disastrous title defence. Meanwhile, we have our first Europa Conference League qualifier of Tottenham Hotspur, who may be a bit peeved by this, however elsewhere in Europe, the West Ham faithful will be booking their trips as they follow their boys on tour in the Europa League, after a stunning season from Moyes’ men. Finally, with a 9th placed finish, I must mention the Leeds United side, who under Bielsa have been real entertainers, and have a top-half successful finish for their efforts.

Looking down the table, it was one to forget for Sheffield United, who followed up their heroic 2019/20 season with an abysmal campaign which saw them part ways with their beloved manager Wilder. Meanwhile, West Brom continue their yo-yo journey between the leagues, as Big Sam couldn’t quite do the job and suffered his first relegation as a manager (although it sounds like he’s not taking much blame for it). Finally, Fulham couldn’t quite do enough to save themselves, and will be looking forward to tearing up the Championship next season under Scott Parker as they also continue on an up and down bungee between the leagues. Looking ahead, we have the arrival of an exciting Brentford side who won the playoff final, Norwich who will be trying their luck again in the top flight, and Watford who will take a more cautious approach on their return to the top table of English football.

Biggest Winner: Phil Foden & Ruben Dias.

Biggest Loser: Arsenal, Big Sam, Tottenham (enjoy the conference without Kane).

Shocking Moment: Protests over the super league, Aston Villa 7-2 Liverpool (also the United Spurs game on the same afternoon), Alisson’s last minute winner.

La Liga

Atlético Madrid held on till the very end to secure the La Liga title, and equally as important, stopped it dropping into the palms of rivals Real. After what had been one of the most intriguing title races across Europe, it went down to the final day in which both Atleti and Real went a goal down, only to recover and ensure Simeone’s men took the crown. It was a great season performance from everyone in the side, and none more so than former Barca man Luis Suarez. After a dramatic switch from Barcelona to Madrid, Suarez made sure he let the Catalan side know what they were missing as he helped Atletico to the title. The final day’s result mean Real settled for 2nd, while Barcelona stumbled at the final hurdles and finished in 3rd, 7 points off the top and a meagre performance by their own standards. In 4th, Sevilla secured Champions League football, while success in the Europa League could easily see Villarreal making it 5 in the tournament next year.

In the lower echelons of La Liga, it was Huesca, Valladolid and Eibar who suffered the dreaded drop, with the bottom 2 securely down. Huesca may well have avoided the drop had results gone differently in the final game week, however those above had done just about enough. They’re being replaced in the league the following season by Espanyol, Mallorca and another team yet to be decided.

Biggest Winner: Luis Suarez.

Biggest Loser: Florentino Pérez.

Shocking Moment: Florentino Pérez talking absolute bollocks about football. Genuinely, what the fuck is the guy on?

Serie A

Antonio Conte did the business in some style, as his collection of former Premier League talents, along with a few extra additions, dominated the Italian top tier, earning them their first league title since 2010/11 whilst simultaneously ending rivals Juventus’ 9 year reign at the top. With Lukaku scoring goals for fun alongside Martinez, and De Vrij and Škriniar keeping the defence strong, they breezed to the title by some distance, after what had seemed earlier in the year to be a much closer title challenge. In 2nd, their Milan rivals AC edged the runners up spot, and with Zlatan supporting a young exciting side, it looks as though both Milan sides could well be back to their best. Atalanta won more hearts of neutrals as they played exciting attacking football till the end, earning a 3rd placed spot as their reward. It was final day drama for Juventus, who stumbled throughout the season, and managed to scrape a 4th spot finish in the final 90 of the season. Due to their salvation of Champions League football, Napoli and Gattuso missed out on what would have been a great finish for Champions League football. At the top of the table in Serie A, the drama is yet to end, as already we are seeing managers from 3 of the top 5 sides moving on (or being moved on). Conte’s outspoken disagreements with the board came to a head shortly after the title win, while Pirlo parted ways with Juve despite saving the 4th spot. Meanwhile, Gattuso was first to move after failing with Napoli to earn the top 4 place, and has already sorted out a new job at Fiorentina. What is to happen with these sides is anyone’s guess at this point, however the revelations will keep coming from Italy all summer long.

In the lower half of the table, it was Parma, Benevento and Crotone who faced the drop to Serie B, to be replaced by Empoli, Salernitana and Venezia who will be hitting the big time next season. Elsewhere in the lower half, Gattuso’s Fiorentina project looks a big one as they finished in 13th, while the likes of Torino and Cagliari will be looking to improve after narrowly avoiding the drop. A special mention must go to Roma, who, with Jose waiting in the wings will be heading to the Europa Conference. Although ridiculed in the UK, with Spurs, Roma and several other decent sides involved, it could be worth a watch. With Mourinho involved, it’s bound to be an exciting watch over in Rome.

Biggest Winner: Inter Milan.

Biggest Loser: Juventus.

Shocking Moment: Conte’s off before the parties even started.

Bundesliga

In Germany, the title race seemed to have been over at Christmas, with Bayern once again reigning supreme. After strolling to their 30th Bundesliga title, they ran riot all season on the rest of the league. With an 8-0 victory under their belt, and the leagues’ record goal scoring tally being broken by Lewandowski, it’s clear to see just how they have been so utterly dominant this season. Although their Champions League retention hopes were curtailed, they have been a dominant force in the Bundesliga, and with a 13 point lead at the top, it’s down to the other sides to play catch up. For the coming season, it’s about to get even more exciting, as Leipzig manager Nagelsmann is already announced to become their new manager, meaning their monopoly on the league looks to be getting even stronger this summer. With Leipzig finishing 2nd, they are on the hunt for a new leader, while Dortmund salvaged a 3rd spot finish and thus Champions League football again for the forthcoming season. Wolfsburg impressed and also managed to grab the final top 4 spot, with Frankfurt and Leverkusen forced to prepare for the Europa League, and Union Berlin enter the Conference League.

At the bottom, Schalke were abysmal as they suffered relegation for the first time in 30 years, after reaching a measly 16 points, just over half that of 2nd from the bottom Werder Bremen. Koln enter into the relegation playoff against Holstein Kiel. The other sides joining the Bundesliga for next season are VfL Bochum and SpVgg Greuther Fürth.

A special mention must go to 17 year old Jude Bellingham, who has impressed massively on a European stage this year, playing with such confidence and talent for a young man in a foreign country. He’s adapted perfectly to Dortmund, and with the Euro’s on the horizon, he’s a shoe-in for Southgate’s starting XI this summer.

Biggest Winner: Lewandowski, Haaland, Bellingham.

Biggest Loser: Schalke.

Shocking Moment: Lewandowski’s 41 goal season… yes 41 goals!

Ligue 1

In what was my favourite league to keep an eye on in the final run-in, the French top division saw a surprising winner, and one that restored many fans’ faith in football, as moneybags PSG were shown up by the determination and impressive display from a fantastic Lille side. Going into the final weekend, a slip up would have gifted the title to PSG, however they were resolute to the very end as they claimed their first title in 10 years. Although from what I’ve read and heard since, the likeliness of Lille staying at the top is small, as many players and even their manager is set to move on, the rebuild will undoubtedly begin again. Poch had a great year winning his first major trophies in the cup tournaments, however he will be undertaking a large scale project to create a squad in his own image for the upcoming season, and will be eager to recapture their throne. They slipped to a respectable 2nd by anyone’s standards except their own, while Monaco took the final Champions League spot. Lyon and Marseille will be in next years’ Europa League, and Rennes are heading to the Europa Conference.

At the bottom of the table, Dijon and Nimes are destined for relegation, and Nantes will be in the playoff game. I will openly admit I know little around the lower half of French football, however I will certainly be tuning in for the playoff game, and I do enjoy the drama of such a relegation matchup.

Biggest Winner: Lille.

Biggest Loser: Marseille for the fiasco at their training ground.

Shocking Moment: PSG actively against Super League plans (sorry to keep harping on about that, but again what the fuck was all that nonsense).