After one of the most gruelling seasons in the history of football, there were tears of joy for some, while some rued their missed chances at the final hurdle. As the dust settles in, let’s take a look at the winners and losers from each league.
PREMIER LEAGUE
Leicester City and West Ham United spent most of the season inside the top four, but Liverpool‘s quality and Chelsea‘s ruthless business meant the two jumped Leicester to book their places into next season’s UEFA Champions League. Tottenham Hotspur had loanee Gareth Bale to thank, as the Welsh International scored two late goals to seal Spurs’ qualification into the UEFA Europa Conference League.
The fate of the bottom three sides was already sealed with three games to go as Fulham, West Bromwich Albion, and Sheffield United all look ahead to life in the Championship next season.
LALIGA SANTANDER
The 2020/21 La Liga season has been one of the most bizarre seasons in recent memory with all three title contenders hesitant to take the title challenge by the scruff of the neck. In the end, it was Luis Suárez‘s winner that sealed Atlético Madrid‘s first title since 2014, with neighbours Real Madrid in second. FC Barcelona‘s charge faded away in the latter stages as the Blaugrana finished in third ahead of Sevilla, who rounded off the Champions League places.
With the top four places already sealed, the battle was on for the Europa League places as Real Sociedad finished the season in fifth, while Real Betis took the final UEL spot. Unai Emery’s Villarreal finished seventh, the Europa Conference League spot. In the bottom half of the table, Elche’s back-to-back wins saw Huesca, Valladolid, and Eibar getting relegated into the second tier of Spanish football.
SERIE A TIM
Antonio Conte halted Juventus‘ procession as Inter Milan won the Serie A title for the first time in eleven years. The Nerazzurri dominated the league this season, winning the title with five matches to spare. Their neighbours, AC Milan, finished second, returning to the Champions League after a seven-year absence. Napoli’s draw on the final day of the season saw Atalanta and Juventus secure qualification into next season’s Champions League.
Napoli will be joined by Lazio in the Europa League, while AS Roma will be thanking Henrikh Mkhitaryan, whose 85th-minute equaliser against Spezia helped them pip Sassuolo to the Europa Conference League spot. Benevento, Crotone, and Parma were the ones to be relegated, with Gli Emiliani registering just three wins in the entire campaign.
BUNDESLIGA
Bayern Munich sealed their ninth consecutive title with runners-up RB Leipzig 13 points adrift of them. After a topsy-turvy season, Borussia Dortmund finished third in the table, winning five matches on the bounce, while despite their final day defeat to Mainz, VfL Wolfsburg secured the final Champions League qualification spot.
Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen secured Europa League football for next season after finishing fifth and sixth. The fairytale, though, was Union Berlin, who in just their second season as a Bundesliga club secured European football with their final-day victory over RB Leipzig – already their best-ever finish in the Bundesliga.
FC Schalke finished dead last with only 16 points, while after a 40-year run as a Bundesliga club, Werder Bremen have been relegated to the second division. Köln finished in the playoff spot and will play a two-legged tie against Holstein Kiel to determine who plays topflight football next season.
LIGUE 1 UBER EATS
Christophe Galtier and his men will be remembered for a long time, as Les Dogues overcame the state-backed money-laden Paris Saint-Germain to win their first Ligue 1 title since 2010-11. In a season with four teams vying for the title, it was AS Monaco who finished in the last Champions League qualifying spot, while Olympique Lyonnais lost their momentum in the crucial stages to end up in fourth.
Olympique de Marseille finished in fifth, 16 points behind Lyon, but will join their rivals in the Europa League Group Stages next season, while Stade Rennes jumped ahead of Lens in sixth to secure Conference League football for next season.
With Dijon and Nîmes already relegated, the fight was on between five teams to avoid that final relegation spot. In the end, it was Nantes who lost out and will be playing a two-legged tie against Ligue 2 side Toulouse, with the winner securing Ligue 1 football for next season.
Written By
Rahul Saha
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