The season is now almost entirely in the record books. For many clubs and their supporters, though, it will be immortalised as the campaign in which they finally broke their long trophy ducks. Teams from all corners of the world feature on that list.
By Neel Shelat
UEFA Champions League: PSG break the curse in style
The most well-known first-time champions of the season are surely Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League. The Parisians have been a dominant force in Ligue 1 for over a decade now, ever since they were taken over by Qatar Sports Investments. However, the European crown proved ever elusive despite the billions invested in the side.
Having failed to get over the line with superstars such as Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi and Neymar, PSG appeared to head in a new direction this season. After years of losing highly-rated academy graduates due to a lack of chances in the first team, they now decided to build a squad full of such young talents from around France and the world. One might have reasonably expected them to take some time to get up to speed with this approach, so their struggles in the league phase were not too surprising.
However, Luis Enrique’s side exceeded all expectations in the second half of the season. Their Round of 16 success against Liverpool was a statement of intent, one which they backed up with wins over Aston Villa and Arsenal. Still, there were some doubts about how such a young team would fare in a major final, but they were answered emphatically on the night.
CAF Champions League: Pyramids reach the summit
Over in Africa, another club with Middle Eastern owners were crowned continental champions. Pyramids FC have only existed since 2018, when Saudi royal advisor Turki Al-Sheikh took over and rebranded a lower-tier Egyptian club after falling out with the board and fans of the country’s most successful club, Al Ahly.
Within a year, Al-Sheikh sold the club to Emirati businessman Salem Al Shamsi, who continued to provide significant investment. Pyramids have finished as runners-up in the Egyptian Premier League in each of the last four seasons, and they won their first major trophy in the cup last term.
Even so, Pyramids were not considered among the favourites for the CAF Champions League going into the season. They comfortably advanced to the knockouts, where they started off with a win over Moroccan side AS FAR. They then got past South Africa’s Orlando Pirates 3-2 on aggregate in the semi-final, before defeating Mamelodi Sundowns by the same score across the two-legged final.
AFC Champions League Elite: Al Ahli trump giants
Meanwhile in the Middle East, the first season after the AFC’s club competitions restructuring drew to a close with a big surprise. Rather than being split between the west and east until the final, the Champions League Elite now took on a centralised format from the quarter-finals onwards.
The significantly richer top Saudi clubs were expected to benefit the most from these changes, particularly since the tournament was set to conclude in the kingdom. Three of the big four qualified for the quarter-finals, namely record champions Al Hilal, Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr and Al Ahli.
Ahli were the least-fancied of the trio having only returned to the domestic top-flight a couple of years ago, though they too did receive massive investment thereafter. They comfortably got past Thailand’s Buriram United in the quarter-final, before tactically outclassing Al Hilal to set up a final with Japanese side Kawasaki Frontale, who they downed 2-0 on the big night.
Liga Profesional: Platense profit from a new format
There is also a new format in Argentina this year, where the top-flight has fully committed to an MLS-like format (though they have maintained the half-yearly Aperura-Clausura split). 30 teams are separated into two zones in the group stage, from which over half progress to the knockouts.
This approach has drawn a fair bit of criticism, especially since the knockouts are one-legged ties without any extra time. Atlético Platense fans won’t be complaining much, though, as their side got the better of River Plate on penalties in the quarter-final and won all their other ties by a solitary goal, thus lifting the first major trophy in their 120-year history.
FA Cup: Crystal Palace break the glass ceiling
Crystal Palace almost had to wait 120 years for their first trophy as well, but they got the job done with a season to spare.
For all the talk of the magic of the cup, the English FA Cup had only one non-big-six winner in its previous 11 editions. Palace were presented with a golden opportunity to change that as they had a relatively straightforward run to the final, which included convincing wins over Fulham and Aston Villa. Manchester City were always likely to be a different ball game, though, and so it proved.
Oliver Glasner’s side were under the cosh for almost the entire game, but an early goal, some resolute defending, great goalkeeping and a dash of fortune led them to their highest high.
Honourable mentions
There were many more first-time champions all around the world. Among them were Wolfsberger AC, who won the cup and only missed out on the league title on the final day of a remarkable season in Austria. In Australia and Mexico respectively, the Central Coast Mariners and Pachuca’s women’s teams won their first league titles. While Dungannon Swifts staged some upsets in Northern Ireland’s primary cup.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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