Bittersweet farewell for Xavi
Barcelona ended the season with a 2-1 victory at Sevilla in LaLiga on Sunday, making departing coach Xavi Hernandez’s farewell bittersweet after a trophy-less season in which they finished 10 points behind champions Real Madrid.
The final game for Xavi, who was sacked on Friday, leaves Barca second after a disappointing campaign in which they lost the Spanish Super Cup final to Real Madrid and were knocked out of the Champions League by Paris St Germain in the last eight.
“I don’t think the work has been appreciated enough,” said Xavi. “A double last year (LaLiga and Super Cup) and this year we haven’t been up to the task because of details.
“I leave with some mixed feelings because the work is positive even though we didn’t win the titles this season. I think we were on the right track and I still think so.”
Champions Manchester City celebrate fourth successive
Manchester City saw grey skies turn to blue on Sunday as they celebrated a record fourth successive Premier League title, with fans pouring into the streets of the city to cheer on their heroes once again.
City proved their mettle by ending the title race in style with a 3-1 win over West Ham United on the final day of the season to finish on 91 points, two more than Arsenal, and become the first English club to win four league titles in a row.
Players and staff waved to fans as confetti rained down and blue smoke flares were lit along the route of the open-top bus, just hours after thousands of people took part in the Great Manchester Run.
Neither the weather nor the anti-climax of the ceremony taking place the day after the FA Cup final defeat by arch-rivals Manchester United 2-1 could dampen the spirits as flags, bananas and even a blow-up Jack Grealish dummy were held aloft in triumph.
Club Brugge win Belgium title
Club Brugge completed a late surge to the Belgian title as a goalless draw at home to neighbours Cerle Brugge on Sunday ensured them a sixth championship in the last nine seasons.
The draw allowed Club Brugge to finish one point ahead of Union Saint Gilloise and three ahead of Anderlecht, who both had hopes of winning the championship on the last day of the season.
Club Brugge ended with 50 points with Union on 49 after they won 2-0 away at Racing Genk but Anderlecht lost 3-1 away at last season’s champions Royal Antwerp and ended on 46.
Sunday’s title success completed for Club Brugge a remarkable title success under a caretaker coach after they had finished the regular 30-match season in fifth place, 19 points behind leaders Union.
Club Brugge qualify directly into the group phase of next season’s Champions League while Union go into the qualifying rounds of the competition.
Union, who won the last of their 11 Belgian titles in 1935, also narrowly missed out on the final day of last season.
Galatasaray clinch 24th Turkish
Galatasaray secured a 24th Turkish title with a 3-1 victory at Konyaspor on Sunday, ending the season three points above arch Istanbul rivals Fenerbahce who have not won the league in a decade.
Galatasaray triumphed for a second consecutive year after a season marred by controversy and violence on and off the pitch.
Galatasaray lost only two league games this season, including at home against Fenerbahce a week ago which delayed their crowning. They scored 92 goals and conceded 26.
Fenerbahce had only one loss – but also six draws to Galatasaray’s three.
Icardi was the league’s top scorer with 24 goals ahead of Fenerbahce’s Bosnian forward Edin Dzeko on 21.
Southampton promoted to Premier League
Southampton won promotion back to the Premier League by beating Leeds United 1-0 in the Championship playoff final at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, earning an immediate return to England’s top tier in a game considered the richest in world football. Southampton join Championship winners Leicester City and runners-up Ipswich Town in the Premier League next season, the latter promoted after a 22-year absence from the top flight, while the Foxes, like Saints, went up at the first attempt. Promotion means Saints are set to receive a windfall of at least 140 million pounds ($178.36 million), according to analysis from Deloitte’s Sports Business Group.
PSG beat Lyon 2-1 to win French Cup final in Mbappe’s farewell appearance
Paris St Germain beat Olympique Lyonnais 2-1 in the French Cup final on Saturday courtesy of first-half strikes from Ousmane Dembele and Fabian Ruiz to end the season with a domestic treble in Kylian Mbappe’s farewell match.
PSG’s all-time top scorer Mbappe failed to find the net in his final game for the club, leaving his record at 256 goals in 308 appearances over his seven-year spell.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about the last few years. Saying that it’s all over, it makes my heart ache a little. What I’ve had here, I’ll never find anywhere else,” the 25-year-old Mbappe said.
“It’s been a wonderful evening, and a wonderful season. I hope that children will continue to watch PSG. We’ve tried to get people excited, to give young people the chance to play for PSG. I hope that more youngsters will want to make their mark here.”
Ten-man Leverkusen clinch German Cup for first ever domestic double
Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen battled past second division Kaiserslautern 1-0 on Saturday to win the German Cup and secure the club’s first ever domestic double.
Leverkusen missed out on a treble after losing 3-0 to Atalanta in the Europa League final on Wednesday in their first defeat of the season after a European record 51-game unbeaten run.
This was Leverkusen’s second German Cup win after their maiden victory back in 1993.
Long derided as ‘Neverkusen’ for their failure to win a major title since that 1993 Cup win, Leverkusen ended their season with more silverware after also winning the Bundesliga title without a single loss — the first German team to achieve that feat.
Via Reuters
