Gunners title nothing special? How wild Europe’s title race was | OneFootball

Yesterday afternoon, after the match against Crystal Palace, Arsenal were finally able to lift the Premier League trophy again after 22 years. 22 years? Some clubs can only smile at that.

In Europe, several top-flight clubs climbed back onto the football throne this season for the first time in over 30 or even 60 years, showed money-driven clubs their limits, and won the title straight after being promoted. Are we witnessing a nostalgic championship year right now?

If one team from Northern Europe has anything to say about it — definitely. Viking Stavanger were crowned Norwegian champions again this winter for the first time in 34 years. Still among the very best in the 90s, the Vikings had recently been playing only fourth fiddle behind Bodø/Glimt, Molde, and Rosenborg. At least for the moment, that is over. Just like the dominance of Ludogorets Razgrad?

Until the current season, the Bulgarians had won the Parva Liga title 14 times in a row. Capital club Levski Sofia had clearly had enough of the dominance and crowned themselves Bulgarian champions again for the first time since 2008. If that still isn’t nostalgic enough for you, we’ve got something else. For that, we travel further into the mountains. More precisely, to Linz.

In Austria’s third-largest city, LASK’s first title in 61 years probably made not only their own fans’ hearts beat faster. Football nostalgics who think less of money-driven clubs will likely have enjoyed this title too.

The Linz side finished ahead of, among others, RB Salzburg. According to 'Transfermarkt.de', the team of a fairly well-known major corporation is worth over 100 million euros more than LASK’s squad. More money does not always bring the title. For that, you are more likely to need a Sasa Kalajdzic.

After years plagued by injuries, the former Stuttgart man played a key role in the title win with seven goals and eleven assists.

“Outstanding, I’m proud of everyone, especially the team and also the fans. We were finally able to give something back after such a long time. It was a hard grind. But I think in the end we deserved it too,” the striker raved about his team after winning the title. While Kalajdzic is already preparing for the World Cup with Austria, we’re making one quick stop in Switzerland.

In the neighboring country, the 2025/26 season repeated a top-flight scenario that until then had only existed in the Bundesliga.

Like 1. FC Kaiserslautern once did, FC Thun were crowned champions as a newly promoted side. Despite having the fourth-lowest squad value, the club founded in 1898 finished on top of the Swiss Super League for the first time ever.

“Being Swiss champions is an awesome feeling. The success is deserved, the season was historic. Promotion and then the title — that’s so awesome,” shouted a visibly emotional Thun coach Mauro Lustrinelli into the Swiss TV microphones after winning the title. He may even make history in the Bundesliga soon.

Lustrinelli was unveiled as Union Berlin’s new head coach on Thursday. Union as champions? Now that really would be nostalgic.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.

📸 BROOK MITCHELL - AFP or licensors