What a weekend across European soccer!
A chaotic loss to Liverpool on Sunday saw Tottenham’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League unravel and now Spurs are hanging on by a thread. Elsewhere in England, Manchester City’s grip on the Women’s Super League title was loosened by the one-two punch of Arsenal beating Man City as Chelsea earned a lopsided win. Meanwhile, David Moyes’ standing at West Ham looks shaky after a huge loss to Chelsea in the Premier League.
On Saturday, Arsenal and Manchester City both won to keep the title race in the Premier League close, and Ipswich Town secured automatic promotion to the English top flight after 22 years on the outside looking in.
In Germany, Bayer Leverkusen cruised to a comfortable win on Sunday, bringing their unbeaten streak to a stunning 48 games across all competitions. Down the table the day before, Stuttgart thumped Bayern Munich to get a chance at overtaking them.
In Spain, Real Madrid took down Cádiz on Saturday and were able to celebrate clinching LaLiga when Girona rallied to beat Barcelona later in the day. That’s one more title race done and dusted!
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)
The end of the season is nigh and every result means that much more. So, let’s take a look back at what happened all across the continent this weekend.
SUNDAY REVIEW
The lead: Tottenham’s Champions League hopes unravel at Anfield
Tottenham’s Champions League qualification hopes are now hanging by a thread after a late second-half fight-back at Liverpool failed to save Ange Postecoglou’s team from a 4-2 defeat at Anfield.
With fourth-place Liverpool, manager Emma Hayes had all but conceded the WSL title to Man City, and when Aston Villa when the WSL season wraps up. — Sophie Lawson
Sophie Lawson looks back on Manchester City’s failure to wrap up the WSL title after conceding two late goals to Arsenal.
Chelsea lands a harsh blow on David Moyes’ job security at West Ham in Prem
If you’re a Premier League manager looking for a good run of form, the end of the season is the perfect time to do it. Both Mauricio Pochettino of Chelsea and David Moyes of Sheffield United vs. Christian Pulisic (Weston McKennie (Juventus) will take the field. — James Tyler
News of the day
-
Declan Rice scored and assisted as Arsenal earned a 3-0 victory over Bournemouth on Saturday, keeping pressure on Manchester City in the race for the Premier League title. The victory puts Arsenal one point clear of Manchester City, who beat Wolves later on Saturday and have an additional game in hand.
-
Birmingham City have been relegated from the Championship despite beating Norwich 1-0 on the final day of the 2023-24 season. The result ends a difficult first season for the club’s American ownership group, which includes NFL legend Tom Brady.
-
Stuttgart substitutes Jeong Woo-yeong and Silas scored late goals to snatch a 3-1 win over visitors Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga on Saturday, spoiling the Bavarians’ preparations for their Champions League semifinal return leg against Real Madrid.
-
Girona have qualified for the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history after beating Barcelona 4-2 at Montilivi on Saturday. The win over Barça, Girona’s second against their Catalan rivals this season, moves them 13 points clear of fifth-placed Athletic Club with just four games to go and into second place.
And finally, on Saturday…
Alejandro Moreno reacts to Girona’s comeback win against Barcelona in LaLiga.
Superstar musician Ed Sheeran has been a lifelong fan of Ipswich Town — he has even been the kit sponsor since 2021 — and ended up watching his side clinch promotion to the Premier League while on tour in Miami, Florida. ESPN’s Nate Saunders caught up with Sheeran ahead of the Miami F1 Grand Prix, which takes place on Sunday.
“Living just outside of Ipswich, I’ve seen it go through really difficult times, and I know that being in the Premier League is going to bring, not just real excitement to the football club but also real excitement and joy to the town and lift it up, which is really important,” Sheeran told ESPN.
You may have been thinking out loud about a possible pun involving an Ed Sheeran song, but we’ll just say that his Saturday was probably perfect.
“What’s brilliant about football is it is very unpredictable and you never know what’s going to happen,” Sheeran said. “We’ve seen the top six teams in England fall from grace before, and you’ve seen people like Leicester win the league. You never know, if we avoid relegation next season, that’s the biggest success for me, but you never know what’s going to happen.” — Tyler
