European Champions League.

Spanish La Liga and Copa del Rey.

Tricampeones was the word that greeted thousands of loyal fans, as European Champions Barcelona paraded their 3 trophies last week in an open topped bus through the streets of the Catalonian City. La Liga, Copa del Rey and the Champions league trophies on display at the front of the bus, it was party time in Barcelona.

Having beaten Manchester United 2-0 in Rome the night before in Rome with goals from Lionel Messi and Samuel Eto’o, the match completed a magificent season. Head Coach "Pep" Guardiola was one of the biggest success story of 2008-2009, leading his team to these three major honours in his first season at the club. La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League.

Champions League Final – Rome

Barcelona 2 (Eto'o 10) (Messi 70) Manchester United 0

UEFA CUP.

The final UEFA CUP was won by Ukrainian side FC Shakhtar Donetsk who beat Werder Bremen in Istanbul to become the 25th and final club to win the secondary European trophy. Next season the brand new Europa League will replace the competition. On the home front, Shaktar finished runners up behind Dynamo in the Ukranian League.

Wednesday 20 May 2009
UEFA Cup Final
Shakhtar Donetsk 2 (Luiz Adriano 25, Jadson 97) Werder Bremen 1 (Naldo 35)

England

Premier League, FA CUP, League Cup.

The Season closer in England, the FA CUP final at Wembley saw Chelsea emerge victorious, beating Everton 2-1. This was a year in which Chelsea had hoped for more, being one of 3 English teams that reached the champions league semi-finals but they sent off temporary manager Guus Hiddink in style with winning the worlds oldest and most famous cup competition.

Manchester United won the Premier League, and equalled Liverpool's long standing record of 18 league titles. They also reached the Champions League final, beating Arsenal in the Semi Finals but Barcelona was a match too far and they were well beaten in the final. Earlier in the Season they had won the League Cup, beating Tottenham 4-1 on penalties.

Germany

Bundesliga.

Wolfsburg won the Bundesliga for the first time in their history. The club nicknamed "the Wolves" which began as a Volkswagen workers club in the city of Wolfsburg will be eligible to play in the European Champions League for the first time ever next season. They also set a new German record being the only team in the Bundesliga to have two strikers score more than 20 goals each in a single season. Grafite scored 28 and Edin Dzeko scored 26 goals to help the lower - Saxony club on their way to success.

France

Bordeaux went the entire 2008-09 season unbeaten at home, whilst playmaker Yoann Gourcuff scored 12 goals and got 8 assists in his first season at the club to help Bordeaux to the League title.

Italy

Inter (Internazionale Milano) won the Italian League, for the fourth time in succession, whilst Lazio won the Coppa Italia, beating Sampdoria on penalties.

This concludes a snapshot of the season of the major competitions in the men's calendar, for the 2008-2009 season. The Women's season has also concluded in Europe and will feature in a seperate article. Players are now on their summer break and the transfer window is upon us once again, as we look forward to the 2009-10 season.