The 2012-2013 season is over, with Barcelona, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Juventus and PSG being crowned as champions of the top leagues in Europe, without any actual surprises when it comes to title winners across most of the football leagues in the continent.
The more worrying fact was how easy it was for most of these clubs to claim the title, finishing usually at least nine points clear of the second place. Only in Portugal, the sixth best league in Europe according to the UEFA coefficient, we had a close title race, with Porto finishing one point ahead of Benfica.
Spanish La Liga
Champions – FC Barcelona, winning their fourth title in five seasons and 22nd overall, finishing with 100 points (tying the Real Madrid record) and finishing with a 15 point lead over second place.
Europe – Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Real Sociedad join Barcelona in the Champions League, while Valencia, Betis and Sevilla will play in the Europa League.
Relegated – Mallorca, Deportivo, Zaragoza.
Top Scorer – Lionel Messi (Barcelona), 46 goals.
English Premier League
Champions – Manchester United won the league title for the 20th time, finishing 11 points ahead of rivals Manchester City.
Europe – Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal join United in the Champions League. Tottenham, Swansea and Wigan (who were relegated) will play in the Europa League.
Relegated – Wigan, Reading, QPR.
Top Scorer – Robin van Persie (Manchester United), 26 goals.
German Bundesliga
Champions – Bayern Munich won their 22nd Bundesliga title, ending a two-year drought with an almost perfect campaign, losing only once and finishing 25 points above second place.
Europe – Dortmund, Leverkusen and Schalke join Bayern in the Champions League, Freiburg, Frankfurt and Stuttgart will play in the Europa League.
Relegated – Hoffenheim, Fortuna Dusseldorf and Greuther Furth.
Top Scorer – Stefan Kießling (Leverkusen), 25 goals.
Italian Serie A
Champions – Juventus won the Serie A for the second straight time, and 29th according to everyone, or 31st according to the club. They finished with a comfortable nine point lead.
Europe – Napoli and and AC Milan join Juventus in the Champions League, Fiorentina, Udinese and Lazio will play in the Europa League.
Relegated – Palermo, Siena, Pescara.
Top Scorer – Edinson Cavani (Napoli), 29 goals.
Portugal Primeira Liga
Champions – Porto won their third consecutive league title and 27th overall, finishing only one point above Benfica in a dramatic finish that included a 2-1 win in the O Classico a week before the final day.
Europe – Benfica and surprising Pacos will join Porto in the Champions League, Braga, Estoril and Vitoria de Guimarães will play in the Europa League.
Relegated – Morierense, Beira-Mar.
Top Scorer – Jackson Martinez (Porto), 26 goals.
French Ligue 1
Champions – Paris Saint-Germain won their first league title since 1994 and only 3rd overall, finishing 12 points ahead of second place in a comfortable finish.
Europe – Marseille and Lyon join PSG in the Champions League, Nice, Saint-Etienne and Bordeaux will play in the Europa League.
Relegated – Nancy, Troyes, Brest.
Top Scorer – Zlatan Ibrahimovic (PSG), 30 goals.
Ukrainian Premier League – For the 8th time in their history and the fourth time in a row, Shakhtar Donetsk are the champions or Ukraine, finishing 13 points clear of Metalist. The two will play in the champions league while Dynamo Kyiv, Dnipro, Metalurh Donetsk and Chornomorets Odesa will be in the Europa League. Henrikh Mkhitaryan of Shakhtar led the league in scoring with 25 goals.
Russian Premier League – CSKA Moscow won the league title for the first time since 2006, making it their 11th overall win. They finished two points ahead of Zenit, and the two will play in the Champions League. In the Europa League, it’ll be Anzhi, Spartak, Kuban and Rubin Kazan. Yura Movsisyan of Spartak and Wánderson of Kuban finished on top of the scoring charts with 13 goals each.
Dutch Eredivisie – Ajax won the league title for the 32nd time and 3rd in a row, finishing 7 points clear of PSV, who will join them in the Champions League. Feyenoord, Vitesse, AZ and Utrecht will play in the Europa League.
Turkish Super Lig – Galatasaray won their record 19th title (second in a row), finishing 10 points clear of Fenerbahce, and the two Istanbul giants will play in the Champions League. Besiktas, Bursaspor and Trabzonspor will play in the Europa League. Burak Yilmaz of Gala finished as the top scorer with 24 goals.
Belgian Pro League – Anderlecht came out on top through the playoff system the Belgian league uses (reduces half the points for the top 6 teams who then play 10 more games against each other), finishing two points above Zulte-Waregem to win their 32nd league title and second in a row. The two will play in the Champions League, while Genk, Club Brugge and Standard Liege will be in the Europa League. Carlos Bacca of Brugge led the league with 25 goals.
Greek Superleague – Once again, Olympiacos finish on top, winning their 40th league title and third in a row. They finished 15 points above PAOK, joining them in the Champions League. Rafik Djebbour of Olympiacos was the top scorer with 20 goals.
Swiss Super League – FC Basel won their 16th league title and fourth in a row. Grasshoppers will join them in the Champions League. The top scorer was Ezequiel Scarione of St. Gallen with 21 goals.
Cypriot First Division – APOEL won their 22nd league title, finishing five points ahead of Anorthorsis Famagusta. Bernardo Vasconcelos of Alki was the top scorer with 18 goals.
Danish Superliga – FC Copenhagen won the title for the 10th time, finishing 5 points clear of Nordsjælland. Andreas Cornelius, from the champions, led the league with 18 goals.
Austrian Bundesliga – Austria Wien won the league title for the 22nd time and first since 2006, finishing five points clear of Red Bull Salzburg. Philipp Hosiner, who finished the season with the champions, lead the league with 32 goals.
Czech Gambrinus Liga – Viktoria Plzen won the league title for the second time, finishing two points ahead of Sparta Prague. David Lafata of Sparta was the top scorer with 26 goals.
Romanian Liga I – Steaua won their 24th championship and first since 2006, finishing 16 points ahead of Pandurii Târgu Jiu. Raul Rusescu, from the champions, scored 21 goals.
Israeli Premier League – Maccabi Tel-Aviv won their 18 league title and first since 2003, finishing 13 points clear of Maccabi Haifa. Elirant Atar, of the champions, led the league with 22 goals.
Belarusian Premier League – BATE won the 2012 league title (2013 still in progress), their ninth league title and 7th in a row. Dzmitry Asipenka of FC Shakhtyor was the top scorer with 14 goals.
And the Rest…
Poland – Legia Warsaw (9th title). Croatia – Dinamo Zagreb (15th title). Sweden (2012 champions) – Elfsborgh (6th title). Scotland – Celtic (44th title). Serbia – Partizan (6th title). Slovakia – Slovan Bratislava (7th title). Norway (2012 champions) – Molde (2nd title). Bulgaria – Ludogorets Razgrad (2nd title). Hungary – Győr (4th title). Slovenia – Maribor (11th title). Georgia – Dinamo Tbilisi (14th title). Azerbaijan – Neftchi (8th title). Finland (2012 champions) – HJK (25th league title). Bosnia – Željezničar (6th title). Moldova – Sheriff Tiraspol (11th title). Ireland (2012 champions) – Sligo Rovers (3rd title). Lithuania (2012 champions) – Ekranas (7th title). Kazakhstan (2012 champions) – Shakter (2nd title). Latvia (2012 champions) – FC Daugava (1st title). Iceland (2012 champions) – FH (6th title).