Now that the Bundesliga is done and dusted and Wolfsburg are deserved champions, one should spare a thought for Hamburg SV who until a few weeks ago were in the running for three trophies. They ended up with none.

But Hamburg are arguably the only team in the Bundesliga this season who managed to play high level football in all competitions. Wolfsburg only needed to do it for one, after being eliminated early on in the UEFA Cup and the German Cup. Bayern were out in the last eight in the Champions League and the German Cup.

Third-placed Stuttgart and fourth-placed Hertha Berlin also had only the Bundesliga to focus on.
 
Martin Jol’s Hamburg, plagued by injuries and suspensions throughout the season, were in the running for the Bundesliga title until three weeks from the end. They also reached the German Cup and UEFA Cup semi-finals where they lost to rivals Werder Bremen. And that is the really bitter part.

Werder, their rivals in northern Germany, eliminated them in both competitions and a week later also inflicted a Bundesliga defeat that dashed all of Hamburg’s title hopes.

They then lost further ground and going into the final matchday they were in danger of even missing a European spot for next season altogether.

That is until the very last minute of their match against Eintracht Frankfurt when Piotr Trochowski, arguably their most valuable player this season, scored the winner for a 3-2 victory, beating Borussia Dortmund to the last spot in the new Europa League next season.

The Champions League final is almost upon us and the views of the Roman locals are quite interesting.

As Paul Virgo explains above, AS Roma fans are rooting for Barcelona while Lazio supporters want Manchester United to win.

The Stadio Olimpico is eerily quiet but it will soon be buzzing on Wednesday when the hordes of fans descend on the venue for what many are calling a ‘dream final’.

It’s been a while since Burnley last enjoyed top flight success but fans of the Lancashire club can dream once more after winning promotion to the Premier League on Monday, beating Sheffield United 1-0 at Wembley.

Founding members of the Football League in 1888, Burnley, join Wolverhampton Wanderers and Birmingham City as next season’s new boys, replacing relegated West Bromwich Albion, Middlesbrough and Newcastle United.

Burnley’s success will please more than a few neutrals.

Manager Owen Coyle’s team have received praise all season for their good football and have regularly caught the headlines in the domestic cups, beating no fewer than four Premier League sides including Chelsea and Arsenal and reaching the League Cup semi-finals.

A long time has passed since Burnley’s glory days, the second league championship in 1960 and a place in the European Cup quarter-finals the following year, and it’s probably no surprise that bookmakers hardly gave the players time to enjoy a post-match glass of champagne before slapping them odds-on for relegation next season.

But Coyle need only look at Hull City, who received similar treatment a year ago from the bookies. Not many would have imagined that Middlesbrough and Newcastle’s long stay in the top flight would end thanks to Hull’s outstanding early-season form.

No-one is safe. Good luck Burnley.

PHOTO: Burnley’s Steven Caldwell (L) lifts the trophy as teammates celebrate after their English Championship play-off final soccer match victory against Sheffield United at Wembley Stadium in London May 25, 2009. REUTERS/Nigel Roddis

Alan Shearer has a big decision on his hands after his eight-game stint in charge of Newcastle United ended in relegation from the Premier League on Sunday.

Most fans of the club will be desperate for Shearer, the club’s record goalscorer, to be handed the job of rebuilding the team as they prepare for life outside the top flight.

But is sentiment once again in danger of clouding the judgement of those who will make the decision? After all, Newcastle appear in such a mess that surely a manager of vast experience is needed.

Then again, Kevin Keegan was a managerial rookie when he took over in 1992 with the club heading for the third tier of English football and he transformed them into a side that almost landed the Premier League title.

The recent record of former big name players making the jump to manage big clubs is not great, however. Paul Ince failed at Blackburn Rovers, Tony Adams at Portsmouth and Roy Keane ultimately walked away from Sunderland.

Geordie fans will demand an instant return to the top flight and that will heap huge pressure on whoever is in charge next season. Shearer would be given more leeway than an outsider, but it would still be a huge gamble for him and the club.

If it failed, where would they go from there?

Owner Mike Ashley would be best served by approaching a proven manager such as Wigan Athletic’s Newcastle-born boss Steve Bruce with Shearer involved as an assistant.

Fulham’s Roy Hodgson would also be a safe bet as would former Tottenham Hotspur boss Martin Jol who has often expressed a wish to return to English football.

However, logic has tended to go out of the window at Newcastle down the years. With Ashley still trying to appease the fans after Keegan’s sudden exit this season from his second stint as manager, Shearer is clear favourite — if he wants the job.

After eight weeks of stress, he may just head back for the BBC studios for the less health-damaging career of football punditry.

PHOTO: Alan Shearer throws the ball back into play during their English Premier League match against Aston Villa, May 24, 2009. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez

Major finals featuring the best teams and the best players, the ones we talk up in advance as being for the connoisseur, often turn out to be the most disappointing, don’t they? Maybe it’s stage fright, too much respect for the opposition or the stakes being just too high, but great teams often seem to save their worst football for finals.

There are exceptions, of course. The 2005 Champions League final between AC Milan and Liverpool produced exquisite football in the first half from the Italians, and drama that will live long in the minds of anyone who watched it as Liverpool came back.

But when you look back on other Champions League and World Cup finals, how many can you remember for the quality of the football more than the result itself?

There was little on show in last year’s game between Manchester United and Chelsea so why are so many people expecting this year’s contest between United and Barcelona to be so different?

I think there is a reason, and I hope I’m proved right by the events on Wednesday in Rome.

A football match can be ruined by almost anything but the surest route to a damp squib is fear of failure.

Neither side on Wednesday has any need to fear the consequences of a defeat. They’re both at the top of the tree domestically, and both have had recent experience of winning the Champions League. It goes without saying they’ll be desperate to win, but no one’s job will be on the line, no project will stand or fall by this one result. Both teams will expect to be back in another Champions League final soon enough.

The last time two outstanding and supremely self-confident teams met in a Champions League final was arguably 1999, when Manchester United faced Bayern Munich. The problem then was that neither side had recent experience of a final. United in particular seemed overawed and it was only the last couple of minutes that rescued what was otherwise a pretty dire match.

Looking further back down the list, the eye is drawn to 1994, when a Barcelona side that had won the competition two years previously, and included Pep Guardiola in midfield, suffered a humbling 4-0 defeat by AC Milan, who had lost the 1993* final to Marseille.

You may argue that the final was too one-sided to be remembered as a classic, but the performance from Milan will go down as one of the great ones.

Will Barcelona, United or both be able to play to that sort of level in Rome on Wednesday? Will Iniesta, Xavi and Messi find the perfect weight and direction on those passes around the penalty area to cut the English defence in two? Will United’s rampant counter-attacks make it another night to forget for Guardiola?

Whatever happens, I suspect we’ll be talking about it for a long time… as long as the two teams stay true to themselves.

* Amended after temporary mind failure on part of author had 2003… (see comments)

PHOTO: Policemen show the UEFA Champions League trophy in front of the Arch of Constantine and Colosseum in Rome May 23, 2009. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi

“Highly intelligent” and “Arsene Wenger” sit neatly together in countless newspaper columns outlining the exploits, achievements and travails of the cerebral Arsenal manager.

Consequently there was no elaborate deconstruction required following an interview with a French television channel at the club’s training ground this week.

Wenger, who habitually brushes aside any question of his allegiance to the north London club, was asked his thoughts about yet another approach from Real Madrid if Florentino Perez returns as president.

“With Florentino Perez in charge, the project he has put forward would be interesting for any coach but I would prefer  not to comment on this,” Wenger replied.

Wenger was fully aware that he had already commented. His response followed a sometimes acrimonious question-and-answer session with the Arsenal shareholders on the previous night and grumbling among fans who have been forced to absorb higher season ticket prices during a fourth consecutive season without a trophy.

The prospect of Wenger defecting to the Bernabeu after 13 years at Arsenal inspired an instant response in north London and one gratifying to the many supporters of a sensitive man committed to his vision of the beautiful game and convinced that style and success are not mutually exclusive. The group Redaction has mobilised a march of supporters for Sunday’s home match against Stoke and online petitions backing Wenger have been launched.

Wenger met Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis on Wednesday and was diplomacy personified afterwards. “There’s nothing to worry about,” he said. “I’m staying here. If that changes I will let you know, but don’t worry about that. It’s not an issue.”

To the majority of fans a semi-final spot in this season’s Champions League and fourth place in the Premier League, based on frequently brilliant if often brittle football, are no petty achievements. For the uncommitted, Arsenal in full flow are a reminder of the splendour which attracted them to sport in the first place.

The problem is the relentless pressure to succeed which distorts modern sport and has turned football clubs into franchises. Impatient chief executives believe pouring millions into their clubs should ensure success. The reality is more complex than a balance sheet.

If Wenger were to leave, Arsenal would lose a great and committed manager with a proven track record including two league and FA Cup doubles. His captain Cesc Fabregas may very well head to the exits along with a host of other carefully nurtured young talent. And where, then, would the club turn?

No man or manager is infallible. Frank McLintock, captain of the 1971 double-winning Arsenal side, alluded to a stubborn streak in Wenger and the lack of physical strength in the spine of the current team.

“If you do question his policy it can feel a bit like criticising the Pope,” McLintock wrote in the Guardian. “The team needs an immediate injection of power.”

A modern version of the rugged Scotland centre-half would be a start. It should not be beyond the wit of Wenger or the budget of Arsenal.

PHOTO: Arsenal’s manager Arsene Wenger watches during their English Premier League soccer match against Manchester United at Old Trafford in Manchester, May 16, 2009. REUTERS/Phil Noble

Rangers defender Kirk Broadfoot is an unlucky man.

Earlier this month, the 25-year-old Scotland international was taken to hospital after an egg he was microwaving exploded. He was trying to poach the egg but hot liquid squirted out when he opened the microwave door, burning his cheek.

There followed lots of newspaper headlines about him having “egg on his face”.

The player was already ruled out for the rest of the season because of a series of niggles.

Now he has been told he won’t play again until November following surgery on his left foot.

It seems he isn’t a broad foot after all…

PHOTO: Scotland’s Kirk Broadfoot celebrates scoring against Iceland during their World Cup 2010 Group 9 qualifying soccer match in Reykjavik September 10, 2008. REUTERS/David Moir

Soccer magazine FourFourTwo has published a superb article this month: 49 Things We Hate About Football — Even Though Its Still The Best Thing on the Planet.

I reckon every real fan would agree with almost all of the things we probably hate about football and I give you a random selection of their choices, in no particular order:

— Fans booing their own players
— Contrived goal celebrations (”Give it up, even your own fans think you look stupid”)
— Immediate post-match interviews (”always rubbish”)
— 23-year-old’s autobiographies (”Bought exclusively by well-intentioned but misguided mums two days before Christmas”)
— Irrelevant mascots (”at what point did Gunnersaurus Rex play a part in Arsenal’s long and distinguished history ?”)
— Manufacturers claiming to have made “the roundest ball ever”

and my personal favourite:

— Sky Sports News interviews with fans outside the ground (”Its 11.24am on Tuesday and the only supporters around are a deranged pensioner wearing 837 club pin badges and an alcoholic maniac with a thin grasp of reality who is almost certainly outraged. Pointless.”)

Well with this season drawing to a close it got me thinking about what I still love about football — besides seeing my own team win of course.

I LOVE:

— The day the new fixtures for the coming season are published

— Going to the first match of the new season

— Going to a new ground for the first time

— Managers who say: “Yes, I saw the incident clearly and my player throughly deserved that red card. I’d like to congratulate the referee for getting that decision spot on.” Thank You Alan Shearer.

— The same as above only for penalties.

— If a second player on the opposing team is injured and his own trainer is already attending someone the way the other team’s trainer immediately sprints on to help him.

— Players who can have a laugh on the pitch. One of the greatest football photos ever? Old mates Bobby Moore (West Ham) and Jimmy Greaves (Spurs) pictured twirling around each other arm in arm.

— Fans who can applaud the other team when something truely outstanding happens

— Teams playing away fixtures in their “proper” home kit

— Impeccably observed one minute silences

— The way David Beckham crosses a ball

— The way you just “know” Fernando Torres is likely to score when he bears down on goal.

— Jose Mourinho’s fashion sense

— Brazil’s kit.

— Cup finals which end in 90 minutes.

— Watching Match of the Day if your team has won

— Reading the Sunday papers if your team has won

Your turn…

The way the UEFA Cup has been going, it was fitting, perhaps even inevitable, that Shakhtar Donetsk triumphed over Werder Bremen to win the competition’s final final before its rebranding as the Europa League.

As Sonia Oxley pointed out, Easter European teams have been the ones taking it seriously of late, and as Justin Palmer noted, the Brazilian influence on the competition has been getting ever stronger. Werder were missing Diego and it showed, as they searched in vain for inspiration after falling behind for a second time. Shakhtar, of course, have far the greater Brazilian contingent.

We’ll have more on this later but for now, click here for our full report, here for reaction and here for a great slideshow of photos.

And as someone who was based in Germany for a long time, I must just spare a thought for Tim Wiese, who had another European night to forget.

PHOTO: Shakhtar Donetsk celebrate with the UEFA Cup trophy after defeating Werder Bremen in final soccer match at Sukru Saracoglu stadium in Istanbul May 20, 2009. REUTERS/Osman Orsal

England’s most popular soap operas thrive on a weekly recipe of misery, doom and gloom that is gobbled up by television viewers seeking some relief from their own trials and tribulations.

In that sense, the final weekend of the Premier League season is quite similar.

With Manchester United already polishing the trophy again after sealing a third consecutive title last week, neutral television viewers are salivating at the prospect of watching the suffering of fans of Middlesbrough, Newcastle United, Hull City and Sunderland as their clubs desperately scarp for top flight survival.

Like the inevitable rubber-neckers at road traffic accidents, there is something cruelly compulsive about the raw emotions of relegation D-Day.

For those poor fans at Villa Park, the KC Stadium, Upton Park and The Stadium of Light, fingernails will be whittled down to nothing as their sides hover between survival and exile from Planet Premier League and all its hype and glamour.

Sadly, there is usually one club that the majority of neutral voyeurs want to see fall off the cliff — and this year they play in black and white stripes.

Newcastle are seen as a club suffering delusions from grandeur, a trigger-happy approach to hiring and firing managers and for many, the epitomy of all that is rotten with the Premier League.

Massive salaries for sub-standard overseas players, big debts, big egos. Big fat nothing in the trophy cabinet. It sounds very much like Leeds United of a few seasons ago and look where they are now.

West Bromwich Albion gained tremendous respect this season for their football and their dignity despite already being relegated. They are bound to come back sooner rather than later.

Middlesbrough too have shown admirable loyalty to manager Gareth Southgate, a young English coach who trusts young home-grown players.

Hull have also contributed fully to an interesting Premier League season, their first in the top flight, playing exciting football in the early months and at one stage mixing it with the big boys in the top six.

Newcastle have also added plenty of colour. Kevin Keegan’s shock exit, the fans bitterness to owner Mike Ashley which involved threats to his safety, the recruitment of a manager with a heart condition and a nice touch in Anglo-Saxon expletives, plenty of player strops and finally the recruitment of TV pundit Alan Shearer as coach, yet another Geordie Messiah.

Add in the antics of wildman Joey Barton and the sulking Charles N’Zogbia (named Insomnia by recovering manager Joe Kinnear) and it really is a heady brew.

So thanks Newcastle….it’s been great fun watching you this season and we will all be tuning in for another 90 minutes of black (and white) comedy on Sunday.

PHOTO: Newcastle United’s manager Alan Shearer (R) and his assistant coach Ian Dowie gesture to their players during their English Premier League soccer match against Fulham in Newcastle, northeast England May 16, 2009. REUTERS/David Moir