While two legendary players said goodbye to their clubs, others were saying farewell to Champions League football in a dramatic end to the season
Winners
Gianluigi Buffon
The farewell to Juventus with a clean sheet and by lifting the Scudetto trophy in the air. The Italian goalkeeper hugged every fan he could, and is now thinking about the future. Will it be Paris Saint Germain and another attempt at winning the Champions League?
Grazie Grande Gigi! ??
It has always been an honour for me to play side to side with a living legend. Glad we can celebrate another Scudetto today! ? @JuventusFC is not going to be the same without you. You‘re truly #UN1CO ?? #FinoAllaFine @gianluigibuffon pic.twitter.com/OfIXWosDiR— Sami Khedira (@SamiKhedira) May 19, 2018
Andres Iniesta
The Barcelona midfielder’s final game at the Camp Nou with 100.000 people applauding him off for ten minutes: a legend of football deserves this.
? The most emotional video of the night ?#infinit8iniesta pic.twitter.com/4uW6WtpQRH
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) May 21, 2018
Inter
Can you believe it? Inter needed a win away from home at Lazio to get Champions League football next season, and managed it with the most dramatic of games, going behind twice and managing to fight back, thanks to a penalty, a red card and the decisive header by Matias Vecino, who had been one of the most disappointing signings of the season.
Football, in a nutshell. And the last Italian team to win the Champions League is finally back amongst Europe’s finest.
Antonio Conte
Will he leave or will he stay? At this stage it doesn’t matter too much. What matters is that in two seasons on the Chelsea bench, he managed to reach two FA Cup finals, and win two trophies, the Premier League in his debut year and the FA Cup this weekend. A message to all Chelsea fans that he is a “serial winner” and also has the personal satisfaction of beating José Mourinho in the final.
You know the words! ??? #FACupFinal pic.twitter.com/2iDfx0tv52
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) May 19, 2018
Niko Kovac
Announced earlier this season as Bayern Munich’s new manager, he brought Eintracht Frankfurt to the German Cup final and then led them to beat Bayern, his future club. Brilliant. Check out the celebrations of the Frankfurt fans to understand just what it means to them.
Lyon
Back in the Champions League, and doing so leaving out the bitter rivals of Marseille is even sweeter. Especially with such an exciting game against Nice, with the decisive 3-2 victory.
[fve]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9-DErkGiPA[/fve]
LOSERS
Lazio
Lazio played better football than Inter for the whole season, and also for 77 minutes of this direct, decisive game. They deserved Champions League football more than the Nerazzurri, being more consistent throughout. Yet, they bottled it. Football is like this: winning doesn’t always mean playing better. And Lazio will have to go to the Europa League.
[fve]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMR9zPtx2bA[/fve]
Jose Mourinho
No titles, Jose. For the man who created the “zero titoli” (zero titles) when he was at Inter, it’s even worse. Especially after having spent all that money in the summer and seeing Manchester United play that kind of football. Last year he won three trophies, and saved the season, this time it went all wrong.
Bayern Munich
Bayern were favourites to beat Eintracht, and were hoping Kovac would not prove his worth against his new employer. None of that happened. Jupp Heynckes ended his managerial career with a defeat.
Marseille
It was always going to be difficult to overtake Lyon at this stage, but at some point Marseille thought they could, as Nice were giving Lyon a difficult time. It wasn’t the case, and Rudi Garcia’s men have to deal with a Europa League final defeat and missing out on Champions League football in the space of just five days.
