Luis Enrique's all-conquering PSG, curse-free Harry Kane and the biggest winners & losers of the 2024-25 European season

Whatever one thinks about the project at Paris Saint-Germain, one thing that we can all agree on is that Luis Enrique is not only a great coach, he's also a decent human being. It was, thus, beautiful to see the PSG fans unveil a huge tifo at the Allianz Arena on Saturday dedicated to the Spaniard's daughter Xana, who tragically passed away at the age of nine six years ago.

It was also nice to hear former Barcelona boss Luis Enrique getting some long overdue credit after becoming just the second coach to win a treble with two different European clubs.

"Does he deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Carlo Ancelotti, Jose Mourinho or Pep Guardiola? The answer is yes," ex-Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard said on TNT Sports. "This team he has created and put together over the past year or two can beat you in any given way. The talent across this squad - it is a special group of players and they're getting coached by a special person as well."

Usually, the emergence of an exciting young team is a cause for celebration - and there's no denying that Chelsea have proven themselves an exuberant force to be reckoned with this season by securing a return to the Champions League before then winning the Conference League. There's also an awful lot to like about the way in which Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez and, in particular, Cole Palmer play the game. However, Chelsea's success doesn't sit well with an awful lot of people - simply because of the way in which they've gone about it.

The club's owners are self-styled 'disruptors' and they've undoubtedly turned the transfer market on its head by paying mad money for as many young players as possible, handing out ludicrously long contracts (for as long as they could) and creating 'bomb squads' to ruthlessly force unwanted players out of the club.

And the terrible thing is, this scattergun strategy has worked. While other clubs have found themselves restricted by financial regulations, Chelsea have got around them by exploiting loopholes and effectively selling their own assets to themselves.

Consequently, it was impossible for neutrals to get excited by the sight of the most expensive squad in football beating Real Betis in Wroclow on Wednesday, as Chelsea boasted two separate players (Caicedo and Enzo) worth more than Manuel Pellegrini's entire squad combined (£84.5m), which only served as a reminder that money can still buy success no matter how incompetent the people throwing it around.

Indeed, the game in Poland really did prove that if you throw enough sh*t at a wall, some of it is bound to stick - and that's certainly not something worth celebrating.

Full disclosure: we feared for Hansi Flick before the season began. After all, Barcelona had sacked club legend Xavi in the most unceremonious of circumstances - and less than a year after he'd won La Liga. So we had serious concerns over what might happen if Flick's team failed to hit the ground running.

We need not have worried, though. Flick and his coaching team quickly whipped Barca into shape, making them fitter and, thus, better than they'd ever been under Xavi - and several of his predecessors. Indeed, we've not seen such a strong Barca side since Luis Enrique's treble-winners, and there's not been a more exciting team to watch in Europe for years.

With their ridiculously high line and wonderful array of attackers, Barca pretty much guarantee goals, as so thrillingly underlined by the epic Champions League semi-final against Inter. The Catalans lost that particular shootout at San Siro, but their high-risk approach was rewarded in Spain, with Barca winning La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Supercopa - by repeatedly getting the better of hated rivals Real Madrid, which only this season's success all the sweeter for the supporters.

Barca still have plenty of problems off the field but they’ve very few issues on it thanks to Flick, who has done an amazing job amid all of the chaos and controversy surrounding the club.

Newcastle 1995-96, Inter 2001-02, Real Madrid 2003-04, Liverpool 2013-14, Botafogo 2023 - and now Ajax 2024-25 must be added to the list of the biggest bottle-jobs the game has ever seen.

It's obviously a harsh title and there are usually mitigating circumstances, but sometimes it really is just a case of teams cracking under the pressure of trying to wrap up a title - and that's unquestionably true of Ajax.

When Francesco Farioli's men won 2-0 in Eindhoven on March 30, they moved nine points clear of hosts PSV with just seven rounds remaining. Ajax's players insisted that nothing had been decided and they were, of course, correct. But even Luuk de Jong conceded that PSV had left themselves with too much ground to make up: "I don't think it's ever happened before that a team has been overtaken with such a lead and with so few games remaining," the skipper said.

The likelihood of PSV catching Ajax decreased even further after the leaders came from a goal down on April 13 to beat Willem II to maintain their nine-point advantage with five games to go. However, what followed was a collapse of epic proportions, as Ajax failed to win any of their next four Eredivisie matches, thus allowing PSV to replace them at the top of the table before clinching the title with a final-day win at Sparta Rotterdam.

De Jong was in a joyous state of disbelief: "After going nine points behind, we'd already given up!" Farioli, though, was in floods of tears and resigned soon after failing to arrest one of the most unexpected slides in football history.

While justifying Liverpool's decision to give Mohamed Salah a new contract just a couple of months before he turns 33, Arne Slot pointed out that "wingers are getting more and more important in the modern game" - and that's not only true, it's thrilling.

If this season's Champions League did nothing else, it hammered home the importance of penetration out wide. Bukayo Saka's return to fitness proved integral to Arsenal getting past Real Madrid in the quarter-finals, while Lamine Yamal and Raphinha were the main reasons why Barcelona made it all the way to the final four. Yamal was so good, in fact, that Inter coach Simone Inzaghi had to put three players on the teenager in the first leg of their scintillating semi-final!

No team, though, better illustrated the value of devastating dribblers than champions Paris Saint-Germain. Luis Enrique loves wingers so much, in fact, that he decided to put three in his starting line-up (Bradley Barcola, Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue) before signing another one (Khvicha Kvaratskhelia) during the January transfer window - and the results were so spectacular that PSG were widely celebrated by everyone who had become deeply concerned by the effects of 'Guardiolismo' on the game.

After the sad death of the old-school No.10 caused the tactical homogeneity of the past decade, the resurrection of the winger has come as a most welcome development.

All good things come to an end - and quicker than ever before in modern football. Just a year ago, we were hailing Bayer Leverkusen for an undefeated domestic double. Thanks to the tactical genius of Xabi Alonso, the shrewd signings of Simon Rolfes and both the brilliance and resilience of a great group of players, 'Neverkusen' became 'Neverlusen'.

Unfortunately, such a terrific team was always going to be picked apart by Europe's elite and, at the time of writing, Bayer have already seen Alonso leave for Real Madrid and Jonathan Tah agree to join Bayern Munich on a free transfer, while Jeremie Frimpong and Florian Wirtz are both set to sign for Liverpool.

It’s fair to say, then, that the appointment of former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag as Alonso’s successor hasn’t done much to lift the spirits of a set of supporters still in the process of mourning so many devastating departures.

Never in the history of a 20-team Serie A had a team won the title the season after finishing as low as 10th - until Antonio Conte arrived at Napoli.

And the thing is, nobody was in the least bit surprised, because this is what Conte does; he takes over teams in total disarray and he turns them into champions. He did it at Juventus. He did it at Chelsea. And now he's done it again at Napoli. Basically, if this man is given a week to prepare for games, he’s borderline unstoppable.

Of course, there was a chance of him leaving the Partenopei this summer, and it remains to be seen how long such a contrary character can work under an equally contrary character in Aurelio De Laurentiis. But, in a way, it doesn't matter. Conte has already delivered just a fourth championship to the people of Naples, and cemented his status as one of the greatest coaches in Italian football history having become the first man to win the title with three different teams.

And just in case there are any lingering doubts over Conte's greatness, consider this: he's overseen six full seasons in Serie A - and won the Scudetto in five of them.

First the good news: AC Milan played Inter five times this season and didn't lose once. Now, the bad news: Absolutely everything else.

AC Milan's 2024-25 campaign was a disaster, with the Rossoneri failing to qualify for Europe after finishing eighth in the Serie A standings. Much was made of the Supercoppa Italiana triumph in January, but it was nothing more than yet another false dawn under the club's American owners.

In August 2022, RedBird took over a club that had just won the Scudetto, but they've spent the past three years undoing all of the good work done by the likes of former technical director Paolo Maldini, who built a title-winning team on a shoestring budget.

Stefano Pioli was sacked last summer for finishing second. His replacement, Paulo Fonseca, lasted just six months before being dismissed in the most disrespectful manner imaginable and succeeded by compatriot Sergio Conceicao, who was fired himself at the end of the season.

Despite all of the incessant uncertainty swirling around San Siro (What does RedBird advisor Zlatan Ibrahimovic actually do?!), Milan still had a chance to end the season on a high by lifting the Coppa Italia in Rome last month. Instead, they were humiliated by Bologna, a far-better run club operating on roughly a third of Rossoneri's wage bill.

Consequently, there were calls for every single member of Milan's management team to resign. "Everyone leave!" read a banner unfurled outside of San Siro ahead of their final league game. "Free Milan from this agony."

Matheus Cunha is a very brave man. The Manchester United-bound Brazilian says he wants to realise his full "potential" and yet he's joining a club that everyone else seems to benefit from leaving.

Just looking at this past season alone, Alvaro Carreras is poised to join Real Madrid after joining Benfica from United last summer, while Aaron Wan-Bissaka restored his reputation as one of the Premier League's best right-backs during his first year at West Ham.

Elsewhere, a visibly revitalised Marcus Rashford boosted his hopes of securing a permanent move away from Old Trafford during a successful loan spell at Aston Villa, and Jadon Sancho did likewise by coming off the bench to score in Chelsea's Conference League final win.

Of course, the Andalusians wouldn't have even made it to Poland had it not been for Antony. The winger is widely regarded as the biggest waste of money in United's history (which is really saying something given their record in the transfer market over the past decade), but he has been so good since moving to Seville in January that he's been called up by Brazil for the first time in two years.

However, none of the Old Trafford outcasts have enjoyed a more remarkable reversal in fortune than Scott McTominay, who was sold to Napoli just before the close of the summer transfer window for €30m due to the arrival of Manuel Ugarte from Paris Saint-Germain for almost twice the money.

The much-maligned and "mis-profiled" midfielder has enjoyed the best season of his career under Antonio Conte. Indeed, just hours after the conclusion of United's most calamitous campaign since being relegated in 1974, McTominay was celebrating being named Serie A's MVP after effectively sealing the Scudetto with a spectacular scissors-kick at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

With all of that in mind, maybe Cunha joining United isn't an act of bravery - but stupidity!

Last summer, Real Madrid added Kylian Mbappe to a team that had just won both La Liga and the Champions League. On paper, they looked unstoppable. On the field, though, they proved anything but, with Los Blancos repeatedly beaten up by Barcelona.

After a very trying start to his spell at Santiago Bernabeu, Mbappe came good and ended the season winning the European Golden Shoe. Madrid, though, finished it empty-handed (unless you want to count meaningless matches like the UEFA Super Cup or the FIFA Intercontinental Cup!).

Mbappe's arrival unquestionably upset the balance of the team, although that doesn't fully explain why both Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham underwhelmed to such a worrying extent. Injuries were also a major issue, with Madrid having to make do without key members of their defence for significant chunks of the season. And, for once, Carlo Ancelotti was unable to come up with solutions to problems caused by Florentino Perez's costly inactivity in last season's transfer market.

Clearly the same mistake won't be made again, with Madrid having already replaced Ancelotti with Xabi Alonso and brought in Dean Huijsen and Trent Alexander-Arnold to strengthen the starting line-up. More signings are also expected in the coming weeks, which will be of greater comfort to Mbappe, who right now must be wondering if he made the right decision swapping PSG for Madrid last summer!

The Harry Kane curse has finally been lifted - and you'd have to be a pretty bitter individual (or an Arsenal fan) not to be delighted for the man.

Kane has long been one of the best strikers in the world, a ridiculously consistent performer who never managed to get his hands on the silverware he so richly deserved simply because he was playing for two of the game's serial losers: Tottenham and England.

Having made the tough decision to leave his hometown club, Kane then suffered the great misfortune to join Bayern Munich at the worst possible time, with the Bavarians entering a season of great turmoil while Bayer Leverkusen were putting together the greatest domestic campaign in German football history - at which point it really did seem as if Kane might be cursed.

However, he just kept doing what he does best - scoring goals - and, on May 11, Kane lifted the Bundesliga title after netting 26 times in just 31 appearances.

"We'll see what people talk about now!" the delighted striker told The Times after ending one of the most infamous trophy droughts in football at 31 years of age.

We don't yet know if Simone Inzaghi will still be at Inter next season. He's got plenty of offers on the table, including one from Saudi Arabia that would reportedly make him the highest-paid coach in the game.

Even if he decides to stay at San Siro, though, it's clear that an era came to a spirit-crushing conclusion at the Allianz Arena on Saturday, with Inter's ageing side absolutely obliterated by PSG's young guns in a shockingly one-sided Champions League final.

The Nerazzurri deserved better. They've been one of the best sides in Europe over the past three seasons and were chasing a treble just a few months ago before being dumped out of the Coppa Italia by city rivals AC Milan, gifting the Serie A title to Napoli and then enduring a historic and humiliating loss in Munich.

Unfortunately, time has sadly caught up with a team that made history in Bavaria by fielding three players aged 36 or over. The squad is in dire need of an overhaul and Inter will be once again relying on transfer market maestro Beppe Marotta to work his magic, as it's not as if the club is flush with cash.

Of course, Inter remain one of the most prestigious outfits in European football. They will be back - but not with the majority of these players. And maybe not with Inzaghi either.

Succeeding Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool manager was meant to be an impossible job. Arne Slot somehow made it look easy.

Klopp played his part, of course. He had Anfield singing his successor's name on the final day of last season, while he also left Liverpool in rude health, having overseen a successful midfield overhaul the summer before. Klopp also quipped that he'd also made Slot's life ever so slightly easier by failing to win the Premier League or the Champions League in his final season at the helm.

However, nobody was tipping the Reds for the title before the 2024-25 campaign because nobody had any idea how the players would react to a new coach after so many years playing - and winning - under the ridiculously charismatic Klopp. Liverpool had done their homework, though. Richard Hughes & Co. were convinced that Slot was the ideal replacement for Klopp - and so it proved.

Despite bringing in just one new player that the Dutchman barely used (Federico Chiesa), and the constant distraction caused by the expiring contracts of three star players (Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold), Slot managed to lead Liverpool to just their second Premier League title - and with four games to spare - thanks to his small but significant tactical tweaks, crucial positional changes and soothing sense of calm (he only lost his head once, and in pretty exceptional circumstances at Goodison Park!).

For Slot to win the league would have been an outstanding achievement in itself, so for him to have turned the title race into a procession was simply staggering.

It should also be a huge cause of concern for all of Liverpool's domestic and continental rivals; if this is what Slot is capable of with minimal backing, imagine what he might do next season with the likes of Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez at his disposal...

Pep Guardiola can try to big up the Community Shield all he wants, but the fact of the matter is that, as far as everyone else is concerned, Manchester City finished the 2024-25 season trophy-less - which unquestionably constitutes the biggest failure of the Catalan's illustrious coaching career to date.

Granted, City suffered some significant injuries, but no more than the average Arsenal side that finished above them in the Premier League - or the ragged Real Madrid team that ran rings around them in the Champions League play-off round. In that sense, there really was no excuse for City's calamitous campaign.

The players were still there, after all. Guardiola admitted himself that he overlooked the club's talented crop of youngsters for far too long, particularly as many of the senior stars, such as Phil Foden, Kyle Walker and Jack Grealish, were underperforming terribly - and that's on the manager, who looked utterly powerless to turn things around after neglecting to rejuvenate his squad last summer.

Consequently, Guardiola begged his Abu Dhabi-based bosses for reinforcements and they responded by spending approximately £175 million ($235m) on new signings during the winter transfer window. And what did they get in return? Not much. City managed to seal a Champions League spot on the final day of the season, but they were humiliated by Crystal Palace the weekend before in the FA Cup final - after which Guardiola rather bizarrely threatened to leave the Etihad if the club doesn't give him a smaller squad to work with next season.

"I don't want to leave five or six players in the freezer," he told reporters. "It's impossible for my soul to [tell] my players in the tribune that they cannot play."

Just like the scratches that appeared on Guardiola's forehead, it felt like another bizarre sign that one of the game's greatest-ever tacticians is starting to feel the mental strain caused by an increasingly demanding profession.

It may not have exactly been the year of the underdog - but 2024-25 was certainly a beautiful season for long-suffering supporters.

After missing out because of the pandemic in 2020, Liverpool fans finally got to celebrate a title triumph at Anfield for the first time since 1990. Their Crystal Palace counterparts, meanwhile, really were walking in a Wembley wonderland after watching Oliver Glasner lead the Eagles to the first major honour in the club's history with a shock 1-0 win over Manchester City in the FA Cup final.

At the same venue two months beforehand, Newcastle upset Liverpool in the Carabao Cup decider. For the Magpies and their magnificent travelling support, it was a first domestic trophy for seven decades.

Over in Germany, Stuttgart ended a 28-year wait for a fourth DFB-Pokal with a 4-2 defeat of Arminia Bielefeld, while Bologna sent an entire city into raptures when they lifted the Coppa Italia for the first time since 1974 thanks to a nail-biting 1-0 win over seven-time champions of Europe AC Milan.

The most significant victory was probably Paris Saint-Germain finally getting their hands on the Champions League but special mention must go to Tottenham, a club that had become so synonymous with failure that it led to the creation of the term 'Spursy' to describe the knack of coming up with new ways to lose the games that matter most. At long last, though, Lady Luck smiled on Spurs, who had the good fortune to run into an historically bad Manchester United team in the final of the Europa League.

And so, despite an absolutely abysmal Premier League campaign that saw them finish 17th in the standings, Ange Postecoglou's side managed to win a trophy - and qualify for next season's Champions League - by demonstrating the kind of bottle that one would not traditionally associated with Spurs to triumph 1-0 in Bilbao.

"Seventeen years!" Son Heung-min said, referencing Tottenham's last trophy, in 2008. "This is what I've always dreamed of. Today is the day it finally happened!"