European Club Soccer 2023-2024 Review

Tyler Stearns |

The Champions League Final concluded club soccer in Europe after Real Madrid defeated Borussia Dortmund 2-0 to take home their fifteenth cup. This season saw a great upset in the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen winning the league, a surprising finish to the Europa League with Atalanta defeating the "invincible" Leverkusen team, and Aston Villa finishing in the top four of the Premier League after having been in the Championship just a few years prior. Though there weren't too many differences in the EPL (UK), Ligue One (France), La Liga (Spain), or Serie A (Italy), there were some great matchups and fun title races. Let's review each of the top five leagues from this season.

The Premier League was strong this season. Each team (aside from Burnley and Sheffield United) competed and won some key games. Luton Town, who hadn't seen the top flight in decades, was a pleasant surprise and was unlucky not to stay up. After signing Oliver Glasner from Frankfurt as the new manager, Crystal Palace looked like a force to be reckoned with. Tottenham were solid too, especially at the beginning of the season when they found themselves at the top of the league after ten games. Though they were predicted to finish in the bottom half, their Europa League qualification marked a solid year for Ange Postecoglu's men. Of course, Manchester City won the league, but the title race with Liverpool and Arsenal was great. Manchester United were disappointing, but they finished strong with an upset against City to win the FA Cup. Overall, it was a fun year in England.

La Liga was less interesting this year too. Though Girona was at the top of the table for a few weeks and looked unbeatable, they fell behind to third after Barcelona and Real Madrid started to dominate again. Of course, Madrid was the better team and went on to win the league (and the Champions League). Barca's struggles with finances and injuries were on full display. Their lack of depth hurt them in the middle of the season and they couldn't recover from some of their terrible defeats. They showed no heart in most of their matches and though Xavi didn't do a horrible job, he needed to go. As for Madrid, they continued their dominance, and adding Kylian Mbappe will make them even better.

Ligue One was going to be another PSG win. They have some of the best players in the world and have dominated France for the majority of their time spent in the league. The winning is no surprise. There were no other major developments in the league this season so a pretty bland year for France.

The Italian League was different than previous years since Inter Milan won, but the league was not too interesting. Inter was the clear favorite from the start after their Champions League run from the year prior. They dominated throughout the whole season, though partially at the expense of their European run. Some surprise teams flourished, like Bologna and Atalanta. Juventus and AC Milan, the two most successful clubs in the Serie A had disappointing seasons, though both were able to secure the Champions League. Manager turnaround was apparent throughout year two, most notably with Allegri being sacked after his remarks following the Coppa Italia final.

The Bundesliga was arguably the best of the top five leagues this season. Bayer Leverkusen's historic unbeaten run in the league was sensational. Bayern Munich, the German Giants, looked weaker this year than their previous ten. Dortmund were poor in the league, though their Champions League run to the final was special. Stuttgart finished second in a shocking end-of-the-year. Their striker Sehrou Guirassy was one of the top scorers in the league.

Aside from the Bundesliga, there were no shock results from the other top four leagues. There will be some new faces in the Champions League and some familiar faces in it. As club football has come to a close, we look to the Euros and Copa America for our entertainment this summer.