All the Champions of the Top 40 Soccer Leagues in Europe for 2011-2012


With Montpellier hanging on to win their first ever title in France, beating PSG and their gulf million to the top spot, it’s safe to say that the European football league season is over. To get a clear cut from club season and the approaching Euro, here are all the champions from the top 40 leagues around the continent.

English Premier League

Champions – Manchester City – For the first time since 1968, Manchester City won a league title, the third in club history, after an incredible stoppage time finish through Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero.

Europe – Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea (through the UCL) join City in the Champions league. Tottenham, Newcastle and Liverpool (Carling Cup) will play in the Europa League.

Relegated – Blackburn, Bolton, Wolves.

Top Scorer – Robin Van Persie (Arsenal), 30 goals.

Spanish La Liga

Champions – The second year of Jose Mourinho, as promised, was more successful, winning the club’s 32 league title and finishing ahead of Barcelona for the first time since 2008.

Europe – Barcelona, Valencia and Malaga join Real in the Champions League. Atletico Madrid, Levante and Athletic Bilbao will play in the Europa League.

Relegated – Villareal, Gijon, Santander.

Top Scorer – Lionel Messi (Barcelona), 50 goals.

German Bundesliga

Champions – Borussia Dortmund completed the turnaround in Germany, beating Bayern Munichfor the title two times in a row and winning the club’s 8th league title.

Europe – Bayern Munich, Schalke and Borussia Monchengladbach will play in the champions league. Bayer Leverkusen, Stuttgart and Hannover will play in the Europa League.

Relegated – Hertha Berlin, FC Koln, Kaiserslautern.

Top Scorer – Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Schalke), 29 goals.

Italian Serie A

Champions – Six years after being exiled to Serie B, Juventus finally finish on top of the Serie A, winning the club’s 28th (or 30th) league title in Alessandro Del Piero’s final season with the team.

Europe – Milan and Udinese to the Champions League; Napoli, Lazio and Inter to the Europa League.

Relegated – Lecce, Novara, Cesena.

Top Scorer – Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Milan), 28 goals.

Portuguese Primeira Liga

Champions – Not as easy as last year, but still, Porto finished six points ahead of Benfica to win the club’s second consecutive title, sixth in eight seasons and 26th championship overall.

Europe – Benfica and Braga head to the Champions League; Sporting, Maritimo and Academica to the Europa League.

Relegated – Feirense, Uniao de Leiria.

Top Scorers – Oscar Cardozo (Benfica), Lima (Braga), 20 goals.

French Ligue 1

Champions – Out of nowhere came Montpellier, coached by Rene Girard, to swoop from under PSG’s nose and win their first ever league title in France.

Europe – PSG and Lille join Montpellier in the Champions League; Lyon, Bordeaux and Marseille will play in the Europa League.

Relegation – Caen, Dijon, Auxerre.

Top Scorers – Olivier Giroud (Montpellier), Nene (PSG), 21 Goals.

Russian Premier League – For the first time, the Russian league matched the cycle of the major European leagues, with Zenit winning the title for the third time, joined by Spartak Moscow in the Champions League. CSKA, Dynamo, Anzhi  and Rubin Kazan will play in the Europa League. Seydou Doumbia of CSKA finished as the top scorer with 28 goals.

Dutch Eredivisie – Ajax finally managed to win consecutive titles, for the first time since the mid 90’s. Their 31st league title came in a season that saw five more teams compete for the top spot finish. Feyenoord return to the Champions League while PSV, AZ, Heernveen, Twente and Vitesse head to the Europa League. Bas Dost of Heernveen was the top scorer with 32 goals.

Ukrainian Premier League – Shakhtar Donetsk finished four points ahead of Dynamo Kiev, winning their third consecutive title and 7th overall. Dynamo join them in the Champions League while Metalist, Dnipro, Arsenal Kiev and Metalurh Donetsk will play in the Europa League. Yevhen Seleznyov (Shakhtar) and Maicon (Volyn) topped the scoring charts with 14 goals.

Superleague Greece – Olympiacos won their second consecutive title and 39th overall. Kevin Mirallas of Olympiacos topped the scoring with 20 goals.

Turkish Super Lig – Galatasaray won their 18th league title and first since 2008. Burak Yilmaz of Trabzonspor led the league with 33 goals.

Belgian Pro League – Anderlecht won their second title in three years and 31st overall. Jeremy Perbet (Mons) led the league in scoring with 25 goals.

Swiss Super League – FC Basel won their third consecutive league title and 15th overall. Alexander Frei of Basel topped the scoring charts with 21 goals.

Austrian Bundesliga – Red Bull Salzburg won their seventh league title, finishing six points ahead of Rapid Wien. Jakob Jantscher and Stefan Maierhofer, both from Salzburg, led the league with 14 goals.

Cypriot First Division – AEL Limassol won their sixth league title and their first since 1968. Freddy from Omonia finished with 17 goals to lead the scoring charts.

Israeli Premier League – Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona won their first ever league title. Achmad Saba’a of Netanya topped the scoring charts with 20 goals.

Scottish Premier League – Celtic took advantage of Rangers falling apart on all fronts, winning the title by 20 points (Rangers were deducted 10). It was their 43rd league title and first since 2008. Gary Hooper of Celtic was also the top scorer with 24 goals.

Czech Gambrinus Liga – Slovan Liberec won their third league title and first since 2006. David Lafata of Jablonec led the scoring with 25 goals.

Poland Ekstraklasa – Slask Wroclaw were the surprise champions, winning their second title, with their previous one coming in 1977. Artjoms Rudnevs of Lech Poznan was the top scorer with 22 goals.

And the Rest…

Croatia – Dinamo Zagreb (14th title). Romania – CFR Cluj (3rd title). Belarus (2011) – BATE Borisov (8th title). Sweden (2011) – Helsingborgs (7th title). Slovakia – MSK Zilina (6th title). Norway (2011) – Molde (1st title). Serbia – Partizan (24th title). Finland (2011) – HJK (24th title). Georgia – Zestsaponi (2nd title). Bosnia – Zeljeznicar (5th title). Ireland – Shamrock Rovers (17th title). Slovenia – Maribor (1oth title). Lithuania (2011) – Ekranas (6th title). Moldova – Sheriff Tiraspol (11th title). Azerbaijan – Neftchi Baku (7th title). Latvia (2011) – Ventspils (4th title). Macedonia – Vardar (6th title). Kazakhstan (2011) – Shakter Karagandy (1st title).

The leagues in Denmark, Bulgaria and Hungary have yet to reach conclusion.

Images: Man City Real Dortmund Juventus Porto Montpellier

2 responses to “All the Champions of the Top 40 Soccer Leagues in Europe for 2011-2012”

  1. All the Champions of the Top 40 Soccer Leagues in Europe for 2011-2012…

    Champions – Manchester City – For the first time since 1968, Manchester City won a league title, the third in club history, after an incredible stoppage time finish through Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero.Europe – Manchester United, Arsenal and Chel……

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.