Lyon and Panathinaikos celebrate

Olympique Lyonnais clinched their third successive French Ligue 1 title while Panathinaikos FC ended Olympiacos CFP's seven-year reign as Greek champions on a weekend that saw plenty of silverware distributed across Europe.

Assured victory
Only a freak set of results would have prevented Lyon wrapping up the title and Paul Le Guen's side took no chances, cantering to an assured 3-0 victory against Lille OSC to join Olympique de Marseille and AS Saint-Etienne as winners of three straight league titles.

Lyon striker
Sidney Govou converted a pass from Péguy Luyindula five minutes before half-time to give his side the lead and midfield player Mahamadou Diarra doubled the advantage with a 51st-minute penalty. Luyindula wrapped up the win with a further goal eleven minutes from time.

Monaco third
Elsewhere, Paris Saint-Germain FC were indebted to Pedro Pauleta, whose solitary 52nd-minute goal at SC Bastia ensured the capital club a place in next season's UEFA Champions League, a competition they have not graced since 2000/01. Champions League finalists AS Monaco FC finished third and will have to go through qualifying for next season's competition unless they defeat FC Porto in Wednesday's final in Gelsenkirchen.

Joy for Panathinaikos
In Greece, Panathinaikos ended Olympiacos's seven-year reign as champions by completing a domestic double with a 1-0 victory that relegated Paniliakos FC. Panathinakos finally took their championship tally to 19 thanks to Emmanuel Olisadebe, who came on as substitute to score the winner.

Tension relieved
The Polish international's 76th-minute solo effort relieved the tension ten minutes after Dimitrios Papadopoulos had headed on to the post. Meanwhile, Olympiacos beat UEFA Cup-bound Egaleo FC 3-1, but it was all in vain.

United consolation
Several domestic cup finals were also contested at the weekend. Manchester United FC gained some consolation for a disappointing campaign when they lifted the English FA Cup for a record eleventh time with a 3-0 victory against first division Millwall FC in Cardiff on Saturday. Cristiano Ronaldo gave United the lead just behind half-time and Ruud van Nistelrooij added two further goals in the second half, one from the penalty spot.

Utrecht retain cup
In the Netherlands on Sunday, a solitary goal by Dave van den Bergh enabled FC Utrecht to retain the Dutch Cup as they defeated ten-man FC Twente 1-0 at De Kuip. On the same day Club Brugge KV celebrated their ninth Belgian Cup success after defeating KSK Beveren 4-2 at the Koning Boudewijn stadium.

Hitzfeld farewell
In Germany, Bayer 04 Leverkusen pipped VfB Stuttgart for the third and final berth in next season's UEFA Champions League with a final-day 2-0 victory. Outgoing Stuttgart coach Felix Magath will lead FC Bayern München into the group stage after they overcame SC Freiburg in Ottmar Hitzfeld's last game in charge.

Madrid slump
Finally in Spain, Real Madrid CF slumped to a fourth successive Primera División defeat in front of their own fans on Sunday to allow rivals FC Barcelona to claim a place in next season's UEFA Champions League group stage.

Suspended quartet
Madrid, who took just three points from their last eight games of the season, had David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane, Guti and Michel Salgado all suspended as they lost 4-1 at home against Real Sociedad de Fútbol. Madrid's defeat meant Barça finished above their old rivals for the first time since 2000, despite losing 2-1 at Real Zaragoza.

Qualifying
Madrid, who finished fourth, will now have to enter next season's Champions League in the third qualifying round, along with third-placed RC Deportivo La Coruña, who climbed above the Merengues by beating Real Racing Club Santander 1-0.