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Football

Weekend Developments From Europe's Top Leagues 14/5

Weekend Developments From Europe's Top Leagues 14/5

Manchester City secured one of the English title on one of the most memorable final days in history, while Juventus completed an unbeaten season and Villarreal were relegated in Spain.

Manchester City secured one of the English title on one of the most memorable final days in history, while Juventus completed an unbeaten season and Villarreal were relegated in Spain.

English Premier League

Weekend Results, Sunday; Manchester City 3 QPR 2, Sunderland 0 Manchester United 1, Stoke City 2 Bolton 2, West Bromwich 2 Arsenal 3, Tottenham 2 Fulham 0, Swansea 1 Liverpool 0, Chelsea 2 Blackburn 1, Wigan 3 Wolverhampton 2, Everton 3 Newcastle 1, Norwich 2 Aston Villa 0

Pos Team Pts
1 Manchester City 89
2 Manchester United 89
3 Arsenal 70
4 Tottenham 69
5 Newcastle 65

Manchester City scored two goals in stoppage-time to complete a remarkable 3-2 victory over QPR which won them the title when Manchester United thought they had it, after their 1-0 victory at Sunderland. Elsewhere, Arsenal and Tottenham recorded final day wins to claim the final two Champions League spots, although Spurs may miss out if Chelsea win against Bayern Munich on Saturday.

Pos Team Pts
16 Aston Villa 38
17 QPR 37
18 Bolton 36
19 Blackburn 31
20 Wolverhampton 25

Bolton were relegated on a day of drama, as they drew 2-2 with Stoke City, although boss Owen Coyle fumed at the goals against them, blaming refereeing decisions. QPR appeared to have sealed their status with a shock 2-1 lead at Manchester City before going down 3-2. Aston Villa’s poor season ended with an ordinary 2-0 loss to Norwich.

Topscorers, Robin van Persie (Arsenal) 30 goals, Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) 27 goals, Sergio Aguero (Manchester City) 23 goals, Clint Dempsey (Fulham) 17 goals, Yakubu Aiyegbeni (Blackburn) 17 goals, Emmanuel Adebayor (Tottenham) 17 goals

Italian Serie A

Weekend Results, Sunday; Juventus 3 Atalanta 1, Fiorentina 0 Cagliari 0, AC Milan 2 Novara 1, Parma 1 Bologna 0, Cesena 2 AS Roma 3, Lazio 3 Inter Milan 1, Chievo Verona 1 Lecce 0, Genoa 2 Palermo 0, Napoli 2 Siena 1, Catania 0 Udinese 2

Pos Team Pts
1 Juventus 84
2 AC Milan 80
3 Udinese 64
4 Lazio 62
5 Napoli 61

Udinese qualified for next season’s Champions League after a 2-0 victory away to Catania confirmed third spot, while Lazio and Napoli both won but fell short. Juventus scored a 3-1 win over Atalanta, with veteran Alessandro Del Piero on the scoresheet, to complete an unbeaten campaign.

Pos Team Pts
16 Palermo 43
17 Genoa 42
18 Lecce 36
19 Novara 32
20 Cesena 22

Lecce were relegated to Serie B on the final day as they lost couldn’t find the win they needed after a 1-0 loss at Chievo Verona. However, 17th-placed Genoa won anything, claiming a 2-0 triumph over Palermo to stay up.

Topscorers, Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AC Milan) 28 goals, Diego Milito (Internazionale) 24 goals, Edinson Cavani (Napoli) 23 goals, Antonio Di Natale (Udinese) 23 goals

Spanish La Liga

Weekend Results, Saturday; Real Sociedad 1 Valencia 0, Real Betis 2 Barcelona 2, Sunday; Getafe 0 Real Zaragoza 2, Levante 3 Athletic Bilbao 0, Real Madrid 4 Real Mallorca 1, Rayo Vallecano 1 Granada 0, Espanyol 1 Sevilla 1, Malaga 1 Sporting Gijon 0, Villarreal 0 Atletico Madrid 1, Racing Santander 2 Osasuna 4

Pos Team Pts
1 Real Madrid 97
2 Barcelona 88
3 Valencia 61
4 Malaga 58
5 Atletico Madrid 56

Malaga clinched fourth spot and a place in next term’s Champions League playoffs after their hard-fought 1-0 victory over Sporting Gijon. Atletico Madrid’s 1-0 victory over Villarreal wasn’t enough for them as they fell short, while champions Real Madrid ended the season with a healthy 4-1 thrashing of Mallorca.

Pos Team Pts
16 Rayo Vallecano 43
17 Granada 42
18 Villarreal 41
19 Sporting Gijon 37
20 Racing Santander 27

Rayo Vallecano produced a miraculous final day ever to defeat Granada 1-0 and survive with Raul Tamudo netting a dramatic goal in the 90th minute to keep them up, condemning Villarreal to the drop after they slumped to a 1-0 defeat away to Atletico Madrid with Radomel Falcao scoring at the death. Villarreal had started the season as a Champions League club but are now relegated in a stunning demise. Real Zaragoza completed their stunning survival effort after a fourth straight win, 2-0 at Getafe.

Topscorers, Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) 50 goals, Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 46 goals, Radomel Falcao (Atletico Madrid) 24 goals, Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid) 22 goals