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All of Europe’s top leagues have crowned their champions for 2023-24, and the battles for European places, relegation, and promotion are almost all settled. Here’s the state of play across the top tiers, with a rundown of what’s been decided, and what’s still at stake.
Note: This story will be updated until the end of the season.
Premier League (season complete) 🏴
League title
What was once a three-team battle ended up being a two-horse race going into the final day of the season. Manchester City claimed an unprecedented fourth successive Premier League title, beating Arsenal by two points.
European qualification
The Premier League was unable to net an additional Champions League place for next season, so only the top four could qualify. Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Aston Villa sealed those spots.
Tottenham finished fifth, and will head to the Europa League (UEL) next season. They’ll be joined in that competition by Manchester United, who, despite finishing eighth in the league, secured a spot with an upset victory over rivals Man City in the FA Cup final.
Chelsea, meanwhile, used a late-season surge to grab sixth place and the Europa Conference League (UECL) berth that goes with it.
Newcastle came in seventh, just missing out on European competitions. They would have gone to the Conference League if City had beaten United in the all-Manchester FA Cup final at Wembley.
Relegation and promotion
All three promoted teams from last year are going right back down to the Championship.
Sheffield United recorded just three wins from 37 games, conceding a Premier League-record 104 goals. Vincent Kompany’s Burnley only mustered five wins en route to relegation, while Luton Town, despite earning some praise throughout the season, ultimately finished six points adrift of safety.
Leicester City and Ipswich Town grabbed the two automatic promotion places from the Championship; the Foxes are making an immediate return, while the Tractor Boys are going back to the top flight after a 22-year absence. Southampton are also going right back up after defeating Leeds United 1-0 in Sunday’s playoff final at Wembley.
La Liga (season complete) 🇪🇸
League title
Real Madrid were crowned Spanish champions for a record-extending 36th time.
European qualification
Perennial Champions League participants Real Madrid and Barcelona will be joined, incredibly, by Girona, whose Cinderella season yielded a first-ever berth in the competition. Michel’s team mathematically clinched its spot by defeating Barca. Atletico Madrid, meanwhile, sealed a 12th consecutive appearance in the tournament by comfortably finishing fourth in the league.
Athletic’s Copa del Rey triumph sent them to the Europa League, while Real Sociedad finished sixth to join them. Real Betis came home in seventh place and will partake in the Conference League festivities next season.
Relegation and promotion
Almeria and Granada combined for just six wins all season. Cadiz, meanwhile, couldn’t pull off a great escape. All told, there was actually nothing left to be decided in La Liga going into the last day of the campaign.
Real Valladolid, whose majority shareholder is Brazilian icon Ronaldo, clinched promotion back to the top table of Spanish football. One of Leganes or Eibar will join them by finishing second, with a playoff to determine the third and final promotion place.
Bundesliga (season complete) 🇩🇪
League title
Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen clinched their first-ever Bundesliga title, becoming the only team in Bundesliga history to complete an undefeated domestic season. They added the DFB-Pokal for good measure, too. Their only defeat of the entire campaign came in the Europa League final, where Atalanta ended their unbeaten run at an incredible 51 matches.
European qualification
The Bundesliga earned an extra Champions League spot for next season, meaning five teams will compete in the 2024-25 event. Leverkusen will be joined by Stuttgart, Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig, and Borussia Dortmund.
There’s still intrigue here, though. If Dortmund, who finished fifth, win the Champions League, the sixth-placed finisher in the Bundesliga will also head to the tournament next year – Eintracht Frankfurt would be the big beneficiaries. That scenario, once farfetched, is very much in play after Edin Terzic’s men upset PSG to reach the Champions League final, where they’ll play Real Madrid on June 1.
If Dortmund can’t overcome the European kings, then Frankfurt and Hoffenheim, who finished seventh, will play in the Europa League next season.
Heidenheim are going to the Conference League.
Relegation and promotion
The bottom two in the 18-team Bundesliga get relegated automatically, while the squad that finishes 16th enters a playoff against the third-placed finisher from the 2. Bundesliga.
Darmstadt were sent packing long before the final day of the season. FC Koln joined them.
There was incredible drama on the final day, as Union Berlin, who went into Saturday’s action in 16th place, scored a 92nd-minute winner against Freiburg to leap up to 15th and avoid the relegation playoff. Bochum, who lost 4-1 to Werder Bremen, dropped down to 16th, and fell into a two-legged playoff against Fortuna Dusseldorf.
There was yet more drama to come, though. Bochum lost the first leg of that playoff 3-0, but stormed back to win by that same score in the second leg before surviving a penalty shootout to retain their Bundesliga status.
Holstein Kiel will play in the Bundesliga for the first time in club history next season, with St. Pauli joining them.
Serie A (1 game remaining) 🇮🇹
League title
Inter Milan, the dominant force in Italy this year, clinched their 20th Scudetto with last month’s win over city rivals AC Milan.
European qualification
Just like Germany, Italy also earned an extra Champions League place for next season, so five teams will qualify. Both Milanese clubs punched their tickets early. Bologna’s fairy-tale campaign culminated with a Champions League place; the club hasn’t featured in the event in the modern era, last appearing in the European Cup in 1964. Despite an abysmal run in 2024, Juventus secured a spot, too, and will return to European competition after a one-year hiatus. Atalanta also sealed their place last with time to spare.
There was a scenario where Serie A could have sent six teams to the Champions League after Atalanta sensationally ended Bayer Leverkusen’s unbeaten streak to win the Europa League. Roma, who ended up sixth, would also have gone to the big dance had Atalanta finished fifth in the table. But La Dea, ending the season on a tear, are now guaranteed to finish no lower than fourth, thus sending Roma to the Europa League. They’ll be joined in that tournament by city rivals Lazio.
Atalanta and Fiorentina play the final match of the Serie A season on June 2, which was the only date available to reschedule a contest from earlier in the year that was postponed.
Fiorentina will finish eighth regardless of what happens in that game. La Viola lost in the Europa Conference League final to Olympiacos, and therefore will enter that tournament once again next year. Had they won, they would have jumped into the Europa League, and ninth-placed Torino would have benefited by being granted the Conference League spot. But Fiorentina’s loss, their second successive defeat in the UECL final, means Serie A will not have nine teams in Europe next season.
Relegation and promotion
Salernitana, who won just two games all season, were relegated. Sassuolo, despite beating Inter twice this season, saw their 11-year run in the top flight come to an end.
Frosinone went down in dramatic fashion Sunday, losing to fellow relegation battlers Udinese while Empoli, who entered their final game sitting in 18th place, scored a stoppage-time winner to beat Roma and secure their safety.
Iconic Italian outfit Parma and Como, the ambitious club from the picturesque city that counts Thierry Henry and Cesc Fabregas as minority shareholders, have already secured promotion back to Serie A. Venezia and Cremonese meet in the two-legged promotion playoff final.
Ligue 1 (season complete) 🇫🇷
League title
Paris Saint-Germain were crowned Ligue 1 champions for the 10th time in the last 12 seasons, claiming a record-extending 12th French title in the process.
European qualification
Ligue 1, unlike its peers on this list, only gets three automatic Champions League places, while the fourth-placed finisher goes into the qualifying stage of the tournament. PSG and Monaco sealed their spots with time to spare.
Brest finished third in dramatic fashion on the final day of the season. They started the day in fourth, trailing third-placed Lille, and stayed that way into the 90th minute of play. Despite cruising to a win over Toulouse, the modest Brittany-based outfit needed some help. They got it from Nice, who scored a 93rd-minute goal to hold Lille to a 2-2 draw, sending Brest to the Champions League for the first time.
Nice and Lyon are going to the Europa League. The latter were mired in the relegation battle at one point earlier in the season. Lens will play in the Conference League.
Relegation and promotion
The bottom two, Clermont Foot and Lorient, were relegated. Metz, who finished 16th in the top tier, will head to a playoff against Saint-Etienne.
Auxerre, who were relegated last season, ensured an immediate return to the French top flight by clinching the Ligue 2 title. Angers finished second to join them in making the leap.
