Tears across the football world as titles are claimed, teams relegated and one man says farewell

Champions League / Ben Lyttleton / 01 June 2009 / Leave a Comment

Ben Lyttleton rounds up the headlines from the European and South American leagues.

What an emotional weekend: there were tears of sadness as the end of an era was marked at Fiorentina; tears of disbelief in Sevilla as Real Betis become the last Spanish side to go down, on goal difference; and in Caen, everything, tears of joy as Bordeaux clinched the French title, and despair as the hosts were relegated.

The last round of the season always produces drama aplenty, and this week was no different: in Italy, Carlo Ancelotti ended his eight years in charge of AC Milan with a 2-0 win over Fiorentina to seal an automatic Champions League place. It was fitting that Kaka, his star player during his time as boss, scored a goal, but even that was overshadowed by the farewell to Paolo Maldini, who after 25 years and 902 appearances, finally hung up his boots.

Milan ended the season third, on goal difference behind Juventus, whose late rally under interim boss Ciro Ferrara makes him a contender for the hot-seat. Pavel Nedved said his goodbyes to Turin. There were goals galore: Udinese beat Cagliari 6-2, while champions Inter beat Atalanta 4-3, Zlatan Ibrahimovic nabbing two to finish top scorer ahead of Marco di Vaio. Not that the Bologna forward will mind: his goal helped his side beat Catania 3-1 to ensure top-flight safety and send down Torino, beaten 3-2 by Roma, instead.

There was huge drama in Spain, where five teams were battling to avoid the one relegation place left. Sporting Gijon gave themselves a chance of survival by beating Recreativo Huelva 2-1 while Osasuna, who started the weekend in the drop zone, looked dead and buried when Gonzalo Higuain put Real Madrid ahead against them. But Jose Antonio Camacho's team, who beat Barcelona last week, sealed an unlikely success with goals from Jaroslav Plasil and Juanfran to win 2-1 and haul themselves clear.

That left Real Betis, their opponents Valladolid, and Getafe fighting it out; Betis drew 1-1, as did Getafe, to leave the Seville side third-from-bottom with an inferior goal difference of just one goal.

"Football has been unfair to us today," lamented Betis coach Jose Maria Nogues. "We deserved to win today, and we do not deserve to go down."

Atletico Madrid sealed fourth spot with a 3-0 win over Almeria while Diego Forlan was crowned Pichichi, and won the European Golden Boot, after Samuel Eto'o only scored once in European champions Barcelona¹s 1-1 draw at Deportivo.

In France, Bordeaux won their first title for ten years, and broke a 53-year Ligue 1 record after notching their 11th consecutive win, 1-0 at Caen, to keep their three-point lead from Marseille, who ended the Eric Gerets era with a 4-0 thumping of Rennes. Yoann Gouffran, a player signed from Caen last summer, was the match-winner, and his goal sent Franck Dumas's side into L2.

"I am so sorry, it's awful to see my friends lying on the pitch crying their eyes out," he said after the goal. Laurent Blanc's side are deserved champions, though, and are already worth backing for next season after the announcement that Yoann Gourcuff, their talismanic playmaker, has signed a new four-year deal at the club.

There was also last-day drama in Turkey, where Besiktas pipped long-term leaders Sivasspor to the title, by beating Denizlispor while Sivasspor lost 2-1 at Galatasaray.

Nuremberg sealed their place in next season's Bundesliga by beating Energie Cottbus 5-0 on aggregate in the promotion/relegation play-off, while in Holland, both De Graafschap and RKC Waalkwijk and Roda JC and Cambuur Leeuwarden need to play a third leg after their play-off matches ended in stalemate.

In Argentina, Lanus are still leading the table with three games left to play after beating San Lorenzo 2-1 - an incdredible achievement considering their coach, Luis Zubeldia, is just 28. Velez kept the pressure on, staying one point back by beating Gimanasia-Jujuy while Huracan are another point back after beating Banfield.

In Brazil, former Inter striker Adriano scored on his Flamengo debut in a 2-1 win over Atletico Paranaense while Sao Paulo beat Cruzeiro 3-0 and Santos beat arch-rivals Corinthians 3-1.