Allsportspk- 2023 European Football Leagues: Reviews Till 11th June Matches

European Football season 2022-23 virtually concluded today on 10th June as champion of the Champions League has been decided at Istanbul, Turkiye. The Major Leagues of five European football giants, England, Spain, Italy, France and Germany take a break in playing before start of next season. Despite the fiesta of FIFA World Cup at Qatar in between, the Leagues lost none of their charms and there were usual surprises, thrills, triumphs, heartbreaks, agonies and of course, change of faces and places. In some leagues, the ultimate winner held no surprises whereas in some, the champion-to-be was decided in the last day matches of the respective league.

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Allsportspk keeps you updated on world sports with a special focus on an exclusive review of the billions of dollars’ industry of European Football.

The Champions

English Premier League: Manchester City

La Liga – Spain: Barcelona

Serie A – Italy: Napoli                       

Ligue 1 – France :Paris Saint-Germain                                 

Bundesliga: Bayern Munich                                              

UEFA Europa Cup: Sevilla (Spain)

Champions League: Manchester City

La Liga

Though already crowned champions of the La Liga for the 27^th time many days ago, Barcelona had to undergo the ignominy of defeat in the last match of the season at the hands of Celta Vigo, a team placed 13 spots below them on the points table. Significantly, Barcelona attained a clear 10 points lead over 2^nd placed Real Madrid, however, out of their total 6 losses in the La Liga season (38 matches), 3 have occurred in Barcelona’s last five matches of the league. Next three positions mostly kept fluctuating among Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Real Sociedad. Both the Madrid teams played drawn games with their respective rivals whereas a win by Atletico would have taken them to 2^nd position. The Top-4 teams have qualified for the group stage of UEFA Champions League. 5^th placed Villarreal and 6^th placed Real Betis have found places in group stage of UEFA Europa League whereas 7^th placed Osasuna have qualified for the UEFA Europa conference League.

Three bottom teams at 18, 19 and 20^th spot have been eliminated from La Liga for the next season. Best performing teams of Tier-2 league will take their places. Espanyol and Elche mostly occupied the red zone continuously whereas Valladolid kept being in and out.

Next season will start on 12 August and will continue up to 26 May 24. Here are salient figures of the Top – 4 and Bottom – 3 teams of La Liga in which each team played 38 matches.

Ranking	Team	W	D		GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Barcelona	28	4		6	20	50	88
2	Real Madrid	24	6		8	36	39	78
3	Atletico Madrid	23	8		7	33	37	77
4	Real Sociedad	21	8		9	35	16	71
18	Valladolid	11	7		20	63	-30	40
19	Espanyol	8	13		17	69	-17	37
20	Elche	5	10		30	67	-37	25

    

Ligue 1

Despite a defeat in their last Ligue 1 match, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) managed to win a record-extending 11^th title of France’s top league. They were pushed down few times, mostly by 2^nd placed Lens, but displayed grit and resolve to end the season as Champions. Lens was the only team in the League to have won its last five matches consequently. LOSC would surely rue their drawn game in their last encounter of the season where a win would’ve brought them among the Top – 4. Rennes also finished brilliantly by winning their last 4 matches and claim 4^th position on the table. PSG and Lens have qualified for the Champions League group stage, Marseille will participate in the Champion League qualifiers, Rennes have qualified for the Europa League group stage and 5^th placed LOSC for Europa Conference League qualifiers.

As regards relegation, Auxere, Ajaccio, Troyes and Angers continued to occupy bottom places regularly. They also finished poorly with Auxerre and Troyes going winless in their last 5 matches and Ajaccio and Angers winning only once.  

The next season will start on 12 August and will continue up to 18 May 24. Here are salient figures of the Top – 4 and Bottom – 3 teams of Ligue 1 in which each team played 38 matches.

English Premier League

EPL, arguably the richest and most followed league in the world football concluded its season with some interesting contests in the finishing stages. For almost 2/3^rd length of the season, Arsenal was the runaway leader. However, they could not maintain the momentum and lost matches at crucial stages thus paving way for Manchester City to be crowned champions for the 7^th time while retaining the title for the 3^rd consecutive year. Interestingly, like top teams of La Liga and Ligue 1, here also champions Manchester City suffered the bitter taste of losing on the last day. However, their week got better when they defeated Manchester United 2 – 1 in the final of FA Cup and have also won the rare TREBLE with their first title of the Champions League. Arsenal will surely reflect upon their season wistfully as this was their best chance in a long time to win the title. Manchester United played consistently well throughout the season and well deservedly occupy the 3^rd spot. Newcastle United had a brilliant season. Their cause was dented due to only one win in their last five matches otherwise they would have finished at least 3^rd. Top four teams have qualified for the group stage of Champions League.  5^th placed Liverpool and 6^th placed Brighton have secured spots in the group stage of Europa Cup. 7^th placed Aston Villa will join the qualifiers of Europa Conference league.

The bottom–3 teams have been relegated to 2^nd Division. 2016 Champions Leicester City underwent the ignominy of elimination with a poor performance. Leeds United and Southampton also could not put up a worthwhile display.

Season 2023-24 starts on 12 August and will last up to 19 May 24. Salient figures of Top-4 and Bottom-3 teams are given below.

Ranking	Team	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Manchester City	28	5	5	94	33	61	89
2	Arsenal	26	6	6	88	43	45	84
3	Manchester United	23	6	9	58	43	15	75
4	Newcastle United	19	14	5	68	33	35	71
18	Leicester City	9	7	22	51	68	-17	34
19	Leeds United	7	10	21	48	78	-30	31
20	Southampton	6	7	25	36	73	-37	25

Bundusliga

The Last Matchday decided the champions of German top league. A draw by Dortmund and a win on their part enabled Bayern Munich to wear the crown of Bundesliga for the 32^nd time. Dortmund had their best chance in a long time to add silverware to their profile. However, they could not perform at the crucial times and ended up 2^nd. Top – 4 teams have qualified for the group stage of Champions League. 5^th placed SC Freiburg and 6^th placed Leverkusen have qualified for group stage of Europa League. 7^th placed Frankfurt will play in the Europa Conference League qualifiers.

As regards relegation, 16^th placed VfB Stuttgart will play in the Relegation play-off. Last two teams in the table, Schalke and Hertha have been relegated. The next season will start on 18 August and will continue up to 19 May 24. Here are the salient figures of Top–4 and Bottom–3 teams, each team played 34 matches;

Ranking	Team	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Bayern Munich	21	8	5	92	38	54	71
2	Borussia Dortmund	22	5	7	83	44	39	71
3	RB Leipzig	20	6	8	64	41	23	66
4	Union Berlin	18	8	8	51	38	13	62
16	VfB Stuttgart	7	12	15	45	57	-12	33
17	Schalke	7	10	17	35	71	-36	31
18	Hertha	7	8	19	42	69	-27	29

Serie A

Significantly, there were two Italian teams in the finals of Europe’s Top–2 competitions. Unfortunately, Inter lost to Manchester City and Roma lost to Sevilla. In Italy’s top league, Napoli were already crowned champion due to their huge lead at the head of the table. They finished 16 points above second placed Lazio. Inter Milan, the runner up of Champion League final, are third and AC Milan 4^th. All these teams have qualified for the group stage of next season’s Champions League. 6^th placed Atalanta and 7^th placed AS Roma, the runner up of UEFA Europa Cup final will play in th Europa League’s group stage. 7^th placed Juventus will have to play in Europa Conference League qualifiers. Last three teams Verona, Cremonese and Sampdoria have been relegated. The results of Top–4 and Bottom–3 teams are given below. Each team played 38 matches;

Ranking	Team	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Napoli	28	6	4	77	28	49	90
2	Lazio	22	8	8	60	30	30	74
3	Inter	23	3	12	71	42	29	72
4	Milan	30	10	8	64	43	21	70
18	Verona	7	10	21	31	59	-28	31
19	Cremonese	5	12	21	36	69	-33	27
20	Sampdoria	3	10	25	24	71	-47	19