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The only way is up

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As summer draws near, so the race for promotion to Europe's top leagues hots up.

Modena in pole position
In Italy, Modena FC lead the race for Serie A, though there is not much to choose between them and the chasing pack. The team in fourth place, Reggina Calcio, are four points behind the gialloblù, with Empoli FC and Como Calcio in even closer proximity.

End of exile
Modena were in Serie C last term and will end a 38-year exile from the big league if they achieve a double promotion. The incentive is there for Empoli and Como, too, as they have been away from calcio's top table since the late 1980s. But SSC Napoli and Salernitana Sport, more recent visitors to Serie A, have six games to find a way into the top four and secure a return.

Ajaccio are back
Meanwhile, there will be four new entries into the French first division next term as Le Championnat expands from 18 to 20 teams. AC Ajaccio are already assured their place - the second division leaders, second-class citizens in French football since 1973, have a seven-point advantage over Le Havre AC with two games to play. The only question is which from Le Havre, RC Strasbourg, OGC Nice, Le Mans UC 72 and AS Beauvais-Oise will join the Corsicans. It is the first three who look the most likely to do so.

Hannover take title
The next fortnight will also decide the promotion issues in Germany, where Hannover 96 have been crowned 2. Bundesliga champions. The team from the Niedersachsenstadion have reclaimed what they consider their rightful place - they have two national titles to their name and lifted the German Cup as recently as 1992.

Up the league ladder
Bidding to follow them up the league ladder are FSV Mainz 05, DSC Arminia Bielefeld, VfL Bochum 1848 and Greuther Fürth. Mainz and Fürth (themselves three-times champions in the pre-war years) have never been in the 1. Bundesliga, while Bielefeld and Bochum are looking to get back where they belonged until 2000 and 2001 respectively. The bad news is that only two of them can achieve that goal.

One helluva year
When Club Atlético de Madrid were relegated for the first time two years ago, they promised supporters an immediate return to the Primera División. "Un año de infierno" (one year of hell) said the posters advertising season tickets around Madrid. Twenty-four months later and they are finally ready to deliver on that promise. With five matches to go, Atlético need five points to make it back to the promised land.

First time lucky?
All that remains to be seen is who will join them there. Racing Santander and Xerez CD occupy the two other promotion places with RC Recreativo de Huelva and Real Oviedo close behind. For Xerez and Recreativo, it would be a first promotion to the top tier.

Promotion play-offs
In England, Manchester City FC and West Bromwich Albion FC are on the rise after finishing first and second in the first division. With the regular season over, the spotlight turns to the play-offs where Wolverhampton Wanderers FC face Norwich City FC and Millwall FC meet Birmingham City FC in two-legged semi-finals.

Wolves lead the pack
Wolves are arguably the most famous of the four thanks to their three league championships won in the 1950s. And few neutrals would begrudge them the third promotion place, and entry into the FA Premiership, as they were third in the table, well clear of the rest.

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