The year in club football

At the start of 2005 there would have been few takers for a Liverpool FC-PFC CSKA Moskva win double in the major UEFA club competitions, but the European Champions Clubs' Cup and UEFA Super Cup reside again in the Anfield trophy cabinet and for the first time the UEFA Cup has been taken to Russia.

Domestic dominance
However, while Chelsea FC and Juventus saw their UEFA Champions League hopes dashed by Liverpool, they, like Chelsea's victims FC Barcelona and FC Bayern München, were the dominant forces on their respective domestic stages.

Chelsea cheer
While Liverpool's thrilling run to the UEFA Champions League final and stunning comeback to deny AC Milan in the final secured the European Cup, they ended the Premiership fifth, 37 points behind Chelsea, necessitating their unique UEFA Champions League defence from the first qualifying round. Chelsea had not won the title for 50 years but Roman Abramovich's money and José Mourinho's astute management produced a team that secured a record English top-flight points tally. However, it was Liverpool that took continental honours and then reached the final of the revamped FIFA Club World Championship last week in Japan.

Juve crown
Not long before their heartbreaking night in Istanbul, Milan lost their grip on the Italian title, Juventus winning their 28th Scudetto. Stylish Barcelona swept to their first Spanish crown in six years. Olympique Lyonnais picked up the Ligue 1 title for a record-equalling fourth year running by 12 points, not bad for a team that had never won the championship before 2001/02. In Europe, French sides Olympique de Marseille and RC Lens celebrated success in the UEFA Intertoto Cup.

Bayern run
Hamburger SV were the third Intertoto winners but they were eclipsed on the domestic scene by Bayern. The Munich club produced a devastating late Bundesliga run to streak away from FC Schalke 04, whose victory against the Bavarian side in March had left them as favourites.

CSKA success
As for CSKA, their start to the Russian season was far from promising, but, maybe inspired by their UEFA Cup success, they gradually caught and overtook FC Lokomotiv Moskva. Sporting Clube de Portugal, defeated on home turf by CSKA in the UEFA Cup final, were also beaten to the Liga title by Lisbon rivals SL Benfica.

PSV pride
PSV Eindhoven won back the Dutch championship from AFC Ajax, the two having alternated every season since 2000/01, while across the border Club Brugge KV similarly regained the Belgian title from RSC Anderlecht, and Olympiacos CFP also ended Panathinaikos FC's one-year Greek reign. Fenerbahçe SK successfully defended the Turkish championship to move one ahead of Galatasaray SK in the all-time table with 16 titles.

All change
Rosenborg BK missed out on the Norwegian title for the first time in 13 years: Vålerenga IF, so close in 2004, ended above surprise package IK Start, though incredibly the top two failed to win in their last six and four games respectively. Latvia's Skonto FC, after a world record 14 consecutive championships, finished 13 points behind FHK Liepajas Metalurgs. The longest remaining runs as national champions are now five years, held by Armenia's FC Pyunik and Moldova's FC Sheriff. Rangers FC overtook Celtic FC in the dying minutes of the Scottish season to increase their own world record of national championships to 51.

New trophies
This year also saw the conclusions of two new cross-border club tournaments. In the Royal League for teams from Sweden, Norway and Denmark, FC København defeated IFK Göteborg in an epic final penalty shoot-out, while the all-Irish Setanta Cup was won by Belfast's Linfield FC.