2012-13 Season Review – In case you were in the Stone Age last year

In France, PSG won the title with relative ease, but that was to be expected, because they had that one key element that has guaranteed teams a league title over the past 9 years. Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Juventus too dominated Italian football and it was quite surprising how easily they were beaten by Bayern in the Champions League quarter final. Luckily for them, Barcelona came along so that everyone could forget about their misery. Napoli finished a commendable second, with AC Milan clinching the final Champions League spot in third, just ahead of an entertaining and talented Fiorentina side.

Domestic Cups & Relegation Battles

Yes, its a little harsh to club the triumph of a cup victory with the heartbreak of relegation, but this is where the drama was, plus, it allows me to make Wigan Athletic the star of this section. Roberto Martinez’s team won the FA Cup against Manchester City with a dramatic late goal in the final. It was one of the upsets of the season and caught everyone off guard, not least the newly dethroned champions of England. 8 days later, they were relegated. This caught no one off guard. There’s something extremely hilarious yet very cool about being in the Europa League and Championship at the same time, with the way they played they left a lot of people hoping they’d bounce straight back up. Reading and QPR join them in the second tier and although the competition wasn’t too dramatic, the entertainment was provided by QPR, who were the joke of the season, a category once again mastered by an Indian owner. The common denominator between Blackburn last year and QPR this, was their Indian-ness. And Christopher Samba.

Over in Spain, Atletico Madrid beat cross town, hugely famous, filthy rich and seemingly unbeatable rivals, Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final. This was their first victory over Los Blancos of any sort in 16 years. Oh, and it was at the Santiago Bernebeu. If they had to wait that long for a victory, this was exactly how they’d have wanted it to happen. This team was said to be their best hope of breaking the curse but after losses in both league games, not even the most ardent Atletico fans went into this one truly believing they could win. Until they did. All said and done it was incredible fun if you’re a fan of the Rojiblanco (or Blaugrana), and just rewards for an outstanding team under an outstanding manager. The relegation battle went right up to the last day of the season with Celta Vigo pulling off a miraculous escape, condemning Galician rivals Deportivo la Coruna, who started the day with the highest chance of escape, to a second relegation in three years. Zaragoza, having pulled off a couple of miracles themselves in the last few years couldn’t avoid it this time and go down along with Mallorca.

The Italian Cup was another city derby between AS Roma and Lazio, a war almost, with notoriously violent fans. The game itself was terrible and Lazio just about nicked it, denying Francesco Totti, who seemed to rise from the dead this season, a great night of triumph. Both teams had nothing else to play for, having both suffered slides down the league table after being near the top at times, so this had added meaning for both teams, but Roma came up just short. The relegation battle was nothing to write a blog post about really, so I won’t.

Hard truth time – I have no clue what happened in the French Cup final. Who won? And who got relegated?