Big summer for: Athletic Bilbao

Fernando 'the Lion King' Llorente
is expected to lead the Spanish
attack this summer

The second half of the season has seen one team in particular rise to real prominence; Athletic Bilbao. Every Spanish expert around the world knew all about the Basque outfit and the quality they possessed. But, there run to the final of the Europa League caught the attention of more than those in the shores of Spain.

There brand of free-flowing football, stemmed from Argentinean manager Marcelo ‘Loco’ Bielsa, has captured the hearts of many across Europe. From the moment they knocked Manchester United out of the Europa League, footballs fans sat up and took notice of the La Liga side that had just overcome the Premier League champions over two legs.

Big summer for: Bayern Munich

Mario Gomez ended the season with
an impressive 41 goals in all
competitions

It’s hard to think that a club of Bayern Munich’s stature could end up empty handed come the end of the season. But after losing out to Borussia Dortmund in both the Bundesliga and the German Cup and Chelsea in the Champions League; that is exactly what happened to the Bavarian based giants. Having not won any major honours since 2010, and with a majority of their Bundesliga rivals beginning to catch up on them, with Dortmund usurping them as Germany’s best team at the moment, the former glory of Die Roten is going to be harder and harder to replicate over the coming years.

With the likes of Franck Ribéry, Mario Gomez and Arjen Robben leading the attacking charge (the trip ended the season with 77 goals in all competitions between them) Manuel Neuer emerging as one of the game’s best goalkeepers and Bastian Schweinsteiger and Toni Kroos pulling the strings from the midfield, it is hard to believe that a squad possessing so much talent has failed to pick up any form of silverware in two years.

Big summer for: Napoli

Argentine Lavezzi looks the most
likely to leave after club president
Aurelio De Laurentiis admitted to
the winger's release clause

Fresh from their Coppa Italia win over Juventus, and in the process denying the Old Lady a domestic double, Napoli returned to Naples and commenced their open bus celebrations at 4am Monday morning, with tens of thousands of football fans lining the streets to welcome back their returning heroes.

Goals from Edinson Cavani and Marek Hamsik, two players I will get to later in the post, along with Ezequiel Lavezzi, proved to be the difference as the Serie A outfit ended their 22-year hunt for silverware. Having grasped the attention of Europe following their debut campaign in the Champions League, much like Tottenham Hotspur in the 2010/11 season, many expected the Serie A outfit to follow their success in the elite competition with a second spell next season.

Big summer for: Tottenham Hotspur

Gareth Bale is likely to be linked with
a big money move away from Spurs
this summer

*Pop*. With Didier Drogba’s winning penalty against Bayern Munich on Saturday night, that pop was the sound of Tottenham Hotspur’s Champions League dream ending. With that penalty against the Germans, the Blues were crowned Europe’s best team, despite ending the season as England’s five places behind top spot.  

With Spurs finishing fourth, Chelsea were given priority to enter the competition ahead of the North London side and, after 2005 and UEFA’s rule change following Everton’s fourth place finish coupled with Liverpool’s dramatic win over AC Milan in the final of the tournament, it is now impossible for Harry Redknapp’s side to take place in next years’ competition, meaning a second successive season in the Europa League.

Changes needed to the England squad

Hodgson's first England squad was
always going to spark debate

So the long awaited announcement was made on Wednesday as Roy Hodgson named his first England squad ahead of the European Championships. Understandably, it has been met with stark criticism sent in the way of the recently appointed national coach with all those with an opinion feeling this player should have been in ahead of that.

Oh my god, they killed Kenny

Dalglish faced the wrath of the
board after failing to secure a
top four finish

If there was one piece of breaking news to take the attention away from Roy Hodgson’s England squad selection, then the story that Kenny Dalglish has been sacked by Liverpool is that one piece. When it was announced that the Scot had been given his marching orders by the Reds, social networks went crazier than a Sergio Aguero goal to hand Manchester City the title.

When the team for the European Championships emerged at around one o’clock Wednesday afternoon, despite the best efforts of many to sabotage the announcement, Twitter went into somewhat of a meltdown, with much of the debate regarding the inclusion of Stewart Downing and the lack of Micah Richards and Michael Carrick.

Yet, if anyone was to trounce Hodgson’s first big breaking news story, it was to be the man who replaced him at Anfield; King Kenny. The football season may have come to a dramatic conclusion last weekend, but that hasn’t stopped the football conveyer belt of controversy from belting out some much needed talking points between now and Euro 2012.

The changing shift in European football

Bastian Schweinsteiger celebrates after
scoring the winning penalty that saw
Bayern Munich progress to the final
of the Champions League

As one power in football begins its inevitable downturn, another appears to step into its place. If football fans learnt anything from last week, it was that Barcelona aren’t as formidable as they were, even 12 months ago. Whether that is down to the players, or Pep Guardiola’s exhaustion, is anyone’s guess.

The defeat to Chelsea over both legs over the Champions League semi-final, the chance to only win one final piece of silverware this season, the Copa Del Rey against Athletic Bilbao next month, and the lack of challenge against Real Madrid for the La Liga title, as witnessed during the recent El Clasico at the Camp Nou, signifies that this Barcelona team could have entered the decline that many teams go through.