Sports Pundit
Football

Weekend Developments From Europe's Top Leagues

It’s make or break time in Europe’s top leagues with several coming to a close as titles are decided and relegations are confirmed.

It’s make or break time in Europe’s top leagues with several coming to a close as titles are decided and relegations are confirmed.west ham scott parker

English Premier League

Weekend Results, Saturday; Blackburn 1 Manchester United 1, Blackpool 4 Bolton 3, Sunderland 1 Wolverhampton 3, West Bromwich 1 Everton 0. Sunday; Chelsea 2 Newcastle 2, Arsenal 1 Aston Villa 2, Birmingham City 0 Fulham 2, Liverpool 0 Tottenham 2, Wigan 3 West Ham 2

Pos Team Pts Pl
C Manchester United 77 37
2 Chelsea 71 37
3 Arsenal 67 37
4 Manchester City 65 36
5 Tottenham 59 37

Manchester United officially confirmed themselves as English champions with a 1-1 draw at Blackburn, thanks to Wayne Rooney’s second-half penalty. Chelsea confirmed second spot despite drawing with Newcastle as Arsenal lost 2-1 at home to Aston Villa. Tottenham firmed for the final Europa League spot after winning 2-0 at in-form Liverpool.

Pos Team Pts GD
15 Blackburn 40 -14
16 Wolverhampton 40 -19
17 Birmingham City 40 -20
18 Blackpool 39 -21
19 Wigan 39 -22
R West Ham 33 -24

It was a massive weekend for the strugglers with plenty showing lots of fight, while West Ham’s relegation was confirmed after they threw away a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 to Wigan. Hammers boss Avram Grant was subsequently sacked.

On the final day, Wolverhampton host Blackburn, Birmingham City go to Tottenham, Blackpool go to Manchester United and Wigan visit Stoke City.

Topscorers, Dimitar Berbatov (Manchester United) 21 goals, Carlos Tevez (Manchester City) 19 goals, Robin van Persie (Arsenal) 17 goals, Darren Bent (Aston Villa/Sunderland) 17 goals, Peter Odemwingie (West Bromwich) 15 goals

German Bundesligabarrios dortmund borussia

Weekend Results, Saturday; FC Koln 2 Schalke 1, Kaiserslautern 3 Werder Bremen 2, Freiburg 0 Bayer Leverkusen 1, Bayern Munich 2 Stuttgart 1, Hoffenheim 1 VfL Wolfsburg 3, Borussia Dortmund 3 Eintracht Frankfurt 1, Hamburg SV 1 Moenchengladbach 1, Hannover 96 3 FC Nurnberg 1, FSV Mainz 2 St Pauli 1

Pos Team Pts
C Borussia Dortmund 75
2 Bayer Leverkusen 68
3 Bayern Munich 65
4 Hannover 96 60
5 FSV Mainz 58

Dortmund celebrated their title success in front of their fans at Signal-Iduna Park with a 3-1 win over relegated Eintracht Frankfurt, with Lucas Barrios grabbing a double, although he did miss a penalty. There were no changes in the top five as most of the action occurred down the other end.

Pos Team Pts
14 Schalke 04 40
15 VfL Wolfsburg 38
16 Moenchengladbach 36
R Eintracht Frankfurt 34
R St Pauli 29

Indeed, Eintracht Frankfurt needed a result to have any hope of avoiding the drop, but their loss at Dortmund confirmed their fate. Moenchengladbach might have hoped to have avoided the play-off but Wolfsburg’s win at Hoffenheim means the Foals will face VfL Bochum in a promotion-relegation play-off.

Topscorers, Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich) 28 goals, Papiss Demba Cisse (SC Freiburg) 22 goals, Milovoje Novakovic (FC Koln) 17 goals, Theofanis Gekas (Eintracht Frankfurt) 16 goals, Srdjan Lakic (Kaiserslautern) 16 goals, Lucas Barrios (Borussia Dortmund)

Spanish La Ligacristiano ronaldo real madrid

Weekend Results, Sunday; Almeria 3 Real Mallorca 1, Villarreal 1 Real Madrid 3, Getafe 2 Osasuna 0, Sevilla 3 Real Sociedad 1, Real Zaragoza 1 Espanyol 0, Valencia 0 Levante 0, FC Barcelona 0 Deportivo Coruna 0, Athletic Bilbao 1 Malaga 1, Sporting Gijon 2 Santander 1, Atletico Madrid 2 Hercules 1

Pos Team Pts
C FC Barcelona 92
2 Real Madrid 89
3 Valencia 68
4 Villarreal 62
5 Atletico Madrid 55

FC Barcelona could only draw 0-0 with Deportivo Coruna, but it didn’t stop the party as they celebrated the league title. It was a weakened Barca side which faced Depor but the day was all about the title celebrations at Nou Camp. Elsewhere, Cristiano Ronaldo equalled the top-flight goalscoring record of 38 goals with a brace in Real Madrid’s 3-1 win over Villarreal.

Atletico Madrid, Athletic Bilbao and Sevilla have all clinched a place in Europe next season.

Pos Team Pts GD
13 Levante 45 -10
14 Real Mallorca 44 -14
15 Real Sociedad 44 -17
16 Getafe 43 -11
17 Deportivo Coruna 43 -14
18 Real Zaragoza 42 -14
R Hercules 34 -24
R Almeria 29 -27

Two sides are officially down in Spain but seven sides could still take the final spot as it comes down to the wire down the bottom in La Liga. Zaragoza’s 1-0 win over Espanyol has given them fighting hope, while Deportivo’s point at Barcelona could prove crucial. Getafe’s 2-0 win over Osasuna has tightened things up too.

On the final day, Zaragoza host Levante, Sociedad entertain Getafe, Deportivo host Valencia and Mallorca entertain Atletico Madrid.

Topscorers, Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 38 goals, Lionel Messi (Barcelona) 31 goals, David Villa (Barcelona) 18 goals, Giuseppe Rossi (Villarreal) 18 goals, Alvaro Negredo (Sevilla) 18 goals

Italian Serie Asampdoria nicola pozzi

Weekend Results, Saturday; Lazio 4 Genoa 2, AC Milan 4 Cagliari 1. Sunday; Fiorentina 1 Bologna 1, Cesena 1 Brescia 0, Parma 1 Juventus 0, Bari 0 Lecce 2, Catania 2 AS Roma 1, Chievo Verona 0 Udinese 2, Sampdoria 1 Palermo 2, Napoli 1 Inter Milan 1

Pos Team Pts
C AC Milan 81
2 Internazionale 73
3 Napoli 69
4 Udinese 65
5 Lazio 63

AC Milan celebrated their Scudetto success with a 4-1 goal feast over Cagliari, with Robinho netting twice. Inter Milan confirmed second place after a 1-1 draw with Napoli on Sunday, while the battle for the fourth and final Champions League is down to Udinese and Lazio after sixth-placed AS Roma lost at Catania. Udinese host AC Milan on the final day, while Lazio go to Lecce.

Pos Team Pts
16 Bologna 42
17 Lecce 41
R Sampdoria 36
R Brescia 31
R Bari 21

Sampdoria’s dramatic fall from grace with confirmed on Sunday after they lost 2-1 at home to Palermo, while Lecce won 2-0 at rivals Bari. Those results meant Sampdoria were officially relegated from Serie A after qualifying for the Champions League last season.

Topscorers, Antonio Di Natale (Udinese) 28 goals, Edinson Cavani (Napoli) 26 goals, Samuel Eto’o (Internazionale) 21 goals, Marco Di Vaio (Bologna) 19 goals, Alessandro Matri (Juventus/Cagliari) 19 goals

Random League: Dutch Eredivisiesiem de jong ajax

Pos Team Pts
1 Ajax Amsterdam 73
2 FC Twente 71
3 PSV Eindhoven 69
4 AZ Alkmaar 59
5 FC Groningen 57

It was always going to be a dramatic final day in the Netherlands as top two Ajax and Twente faced off in what was essentially a cup final. Twente had a point advantage heading into the clash so Ajax always needed to win and they made the most of their home ground advantage.

A double from Siem de Jong guided Ajax to their first title since 2004, while condemning Twente to more final day pain. Elsewhere, PSV Eindhoven simply needed to beat Groningen to claim a Champions League spot but the game ended goalless giving Twente something to hold their hats on.