"Interim" Chelsea

Chelsea has been up and down over the last few years. In 2011 Carlo Ancelotti was fired as the club "only" made it to second place in the Premier League (the previous year he had led them to their first "Double"). For the start of the 2011-12 season Andre Villas-Boas became manager, and under him team performance dipped with a string of defeats. Villas-Boas was fired in March 2012, and was replaced by "interim" coach Roberto Di Matteo, who in the subsequent months pulled the side up to win the FA Cup and the Champions League in May 2012. One could have been led to think that this would be enough to keep him in the club, but Chelsea's elimination in the first round of the 2012-13 Champions League season (as the first defending champions ever) led Di Matteo to lose his job in November 2012, and a new "interim" manager took over: Rafa Benitez.

And Rafa Benitez stayed as "interim" in spite of continued controversies and criticism, and eventually he announced that he would be leaving at the end of the season in spite of securing a CL spot in the Premier League. In the meantime the team progressed in the Europa League and last night Rafa Benitez led Chelsea to the Europa League title when defeating Benfica 2-1 in Amsterdam. It wasn't pretty: only Benfica inefficiency and an excellent late header by Branislav Ivanovic gave them a victory that must surely have felt somewhat bittersweet for Benitez, who will nevertheless probably not have to look much around for a more steady job.

And Chelsea? Rumors abound about a certain Portuguese gentleman returning to Chelsea. He will probably not have the title "interim", although that may always be the case in Chelsea anyway.

The champions from Paris

Anything can happen in football, but money often is victorious. After 19 years Paris St. Germain again won the French League title after a 1-0 victory over Olympique Lyon (a team that dominated French football with seven league titles in a row until 2008).
In 2012 the Qatar Investment Authority bought the stock majority in Paris St. Germain and made them one of the richest clubs in the world, investing heavily in creating a competitive team. Carlo Ancelotti became coach of a team and some of the players that arrived were Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Maxwell, and even the ageing but ever-present David Beckham. And there is no doubt that the team has been steadily improving, and after finishing second last season they put up a great performance in the CL against FC Barcelona.
Now the title arrived, and it was surely a deserved title. Many people will criticize that it is only a victory of money, and that is surely true. But it is also true that Paris St. Germain was always a great team in a city - one of the greatest cities in the world -, that needs a top level football side. If the French league can avoid the trappings of the Spanish league, the French league will benefit from a strong Paris St. Germain side that will also be great to have in European competitions.
Great new champions, and congratulations to all fans!

Champions and champions

I usually find myself in cool places around the world to watch the FA Cup finals, but this year I found myself in an airplane, and was thus unable to watch a surprising final where Wigan Athletics won a surprising 1-0 victory over Manchester City. Wigan are fighting relegation from the Premier League and this victory is their first FA title ever! Manchester City in the meantime finish a "disappointing" season: second in the Premier League, second in the FA Cup and Champions League would have seemed like a miracle some years ago, but with growth expectations overshadow hope.
Wigan won with hope and no expectations, and must now hope for survival in the Premier League.
But that is what makes English football so great: these things can really happen!
Not so in the Spanish league.
When I finally got home from the airport I watched Espanol and Real Madrid play 1-1 in the Spanish League. This result makes FC Barcelona champions without playing, as Real Madrid can no longer hope to catch up with the Catalonians who will be playing Atletico Madrid later.
No surprises there: not since 2004 has another team than Barcelona or Real Madrid won the league (Valencia), and since then only one team has ended in top-2 (Villarreal in 2008).
Real Madrid can still hope for a title though: next Friday they will be playing Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey final. Atletico are no Wigan, but are still the smaller side against mighty Real Madrid, who will be playing at their home stadium.

The end of an era

Sir Alex Ferguson has announced his retirement as manager of Manchester United after 27 years at the end of this season. He took over in 1986 after a brief stint as Scottish national coach at a time when the club had not taken the English title since 1967. In the first years Manchester United didn't win the title, but steadily improving, Ferguson held on, taking the FA Cup in 1990, and the UEFA Cup winners cup in 1991. And in 1993 Ferguson won his first Premier League title. By the time he retires, he will have led Manchester United to 13 League titles, of the 20 that Manchester United have ever won. Besides the League titles he won five FA Cup titles, four League Cup titles and two historical Champions League titles.
The speculations about who will replace him next season abound, with the favourites being David Moyes and Jose Mourinho. But no matter what no new manager will achieve what Sir Alex Ferguson achieved, and not only Manchester United fans but all football fans should be sad and respectful of the end of one of the impressive eras in football.

Juventus champions!

With a 1-0 victory over Palermo Juventus won their second Italian Serie A title in a row. In spite of Napoli defeating Inter Milan 3-1, the runner-ups cannot catch up with Juventus.
Great for Juventus, who are cementing their place back at the top of the Italian league after their disgraceful season in the lower Serie B league following the "Calciopoli" match fixing scandal.
Napoli will follow them into the Champions League, while AC Milan, Fiorentina, Roma, Udinese and Lazio seem to be fighting for the three CL qualification spots.