IT has taken Union Saint-Gilloise 90 years to win the Belgian league, but Napoli picked up their second title in three years in Italy. Meanwhile, it was the end of an era for Real Madrid, who waved goodbye to coach Carlo Ancelotti.
**Napoli: Conte’s uncomfortable magic works**
AFTER a poor defence of their 2023 scudetto, Napoli bounced back and won their second league title in three years, without European distractions for the first time since 2010. They appointed Antonio Conte as coach in the summer of 2024 and despite going down 3-0 at Verona in their first Serie A game, they lost just four times all season and finished one point ahead of Inter Milan. Napoli spent heavily in 2024-25, bringing in Scott McTominay of Manchester United for € 30.5 million, Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea (€ 30m), Torino’s Alessandro Buongiorno (€ 35m) and Benfica’s David Neres (€ 28m). McTominay had an outstanding season and was named Serie A’s most valuable player. Lukaku also had a good campaign, scoring 14 goals. They lost once in their last 16 games, but Napoli seemed to have difficulty finishing teams off, drawing eight times in that run. This may have been partially due to the loss of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who was sold to Paris Saint-Germain for € 80 million in January 2025. However, they clinched the title in their final game, a 2-0 victory against Cagliari at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
**Real Madrid: In need of a reset?**
ALTHOUGH Real Madrid were chasing the league title for much of the season, they never truly convinced in 2024-25. They signed Kylian Mbappé from Paris Saint-Germain and for a short while, he didn’t seem to for comfortably into Carlo Ancelotti’s side. However, he went on to score 43 goals in all competitions. Jude Bellingham’s haul was less impressive than in his debut season, but he netted 14 goals. Real did hit the top of the table briefly, but Barcelona finished four points ahead of them. Barca were the first team to beat Real in the league, a 4-0 victory in the Bernabéu at the end of October. Real were also beaten in the final of the Copa del Rey by their old rivals. Their Champions League campaign was disappointing and they lost three of their eight league phase games. They eventually reached the last eight, but lost 5-1 on aggregate to Arsenal. A number of clumsy defeats prevented Real from closing the gap on Barca, including setbacks at home to Valencia and away losses at Betis, Bilbao and Espanyol. There was increasing doubts about Ancelotti’s future, and in the final weeks, it was revealed that Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso would replace him, while Ancelotti himself would take the Brazil national team job. Luka Modrić, their popular veteran midfielder, also announced his departure, leaving after the Club World Cup.
**Union Saint-Gilloise: A long time coming**
USG brought the Belgian title to Brussels for the first time in eight years and ended a 90-year wait for their 12th championship. It was a strange win, for USG finished 13 points behind Genk in the first phase of the Belgian Pro League. They ended nine ahead of Genk after the second stage in which USG were unbeaten with nine wins in 10 and conceded just three goals. Brugge finished in second place, three points behind USG, who beat them 1-0 in a vital game at the end of April. USG were majority-owned by Brighton’s Tony Bloom, but he now has just a minority holding in the club. The club’s European season was mixed, although they did reach the Europa play-off round after finishing 21st in the league phase. Canadian striker Promise David scored 24 goals in 2024-25 and was a target for a long line of clubs, but the 23 year-old recently signed a new contract with USG to end any speculation.
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