2025/26 Wrap Up: Arsenal Finally Win The Premier League Title After 22 Years

Europe’s top five leagues—the English Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga, and Ligue 1—are wrapping up just before the 2026 FIFA World Cup. While the final games remain, each league has already crowned its 2025/26 champion. Here’s a recap:

Arsenal won the English Premier League with a game to spare. The Gunners -Arsenal’s nickname- won their first Premier League trophy since 2003/04, also known as the Invincibles era.

This achievement also made Mikel Arteta the first manager to win the league with his former club. Arteta made 150 appearances for Arsenal between 2011 and 2016 before being appointed as the club’s head coach in December 2019.

Only a few people expect Arteta to last more than six seasons with Arsenal. Especially after only collecting fewer than 20 wins in his first full season, 2020/2021. Yet the Spaniard remains, despite criticism. Arsenal trusts the process and keeps progressing in the table. Now they have finally won it.

A lot of people on social media still criticize Arsenal’s success cause of how they won it. They were deemed to rely too much on corner kicks and hard, almost impenetrable defense. Some even said, “the worst Premier League champion in the history”. But that’s part of the improvement. The quality of Arsenal’s backline has improved a lot since Arteta took over.

The “One-nil to Arsenal” chant even resurfaces in the stands after decades being on the back burner. The chant that represents Arsenal’s under George Graham, pre-Arsene Wenger’s era, used to be hidden from the supporters’ catalog, because of Graham’s corruption case. Now, the people of North London red embrace it once more, thanks to Arteta’s tenure.

“Our collective organisation is very strong. The players are defending with such energy, intelligence, and aggression on every ball. That’s something that has been key to our success. It’s a huge platform to win games, especially when we play away from home,” Arteta explained back in November of 2025.

Strong defense has helped Arsenal win the league. But their season isn’t over yet. There’s still a possibility for them to end the season with a higher achievement, as the UEFA Champions League final is just around the corner.

PSG retained Ligue 1 title

Arsenal’s opponent in the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League final is the current title holder, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), also the French Ligue 1 winner this season.

Just like Arsenal, PSG won the league with a game to spare. Unlike Arsenal, it was a little bit surprising how long it took for PSG to secure their league title.

In the previous season, they’re basically untouchable. Already securing the 2024/25 league title with six games to spare. But this season, they have to fight a hard battle at the top of the league, having been toppled from the top four different times, and spent 10 weeks chasing other clubs, mainly RC Lens.

A unique thing happened for PSG in the last game of the season against their city rival, Paris FC. Came to Stade Jean-Bouin, Paris FC’s home ground, as a champion, PSG didn’t get the acknowledgement they usually deserved. Paris FC didn’t give Luis Enrique’s team a guard of honor before the game. They also reject PSG’s title celebration, which usually happens after the game.

PSG celebrate their title win before kick-off against Paris FC, near the corner flag, no less. Not in the middle of the pitch like it usually does. The unusual, harsh psy-war, if you will, paid dividends for Paris FC. The home side won the game against their city rival, the league title holder, PSG, two goals to one.

In the post-match press conference, PSG’s manager, Luis Enrique, blasted his players. “This is what happened when you ​play without ambitions and/or intensity. I knew how difficult it would be to play with no objective, but I’m a bit disappointed. My players need to overcome difficult matches. They need to stay ​motivated,” Enrique said after the 2-1 loss to Paris FC.

Enrique realized his team is on the brink of history with the Champions League final against Arsenal ahead. If they’re able to beat the Gunners in Budapest, PSG will win the UEFA Champions League back-to-back. They could be the first team ever to do it in the competition’s new format.

“I certainly hope that when the Champions League final comes, there will be no motivation problem for the players,” Enrique told the media.

Locker Room Proves to be crucial in Italy & Spain

Last season, PSG won emphatically against the Italian giant, Inter Milan (5-0), in the Champions League final. This season, Inter also ended up on the wrong side of a shocking result in top European competition, knocked out by Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt in the playoff. Thankfully, Nerrazurri -Inter’s nickname- managed to finish their 2025/26 season with a domestic double.

Inter won the Coppa Italia by beating Lazio in the final and secured the league title with three games to spare. Inter’s success made their manager, Cristian Chivu, the first Romanian coach to win a title in the top five leagues (Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, and Ligue 1). Chivu is also the first person to win the league with Inter as a player and manager.

Domestic double in his first season as Inter’s manager was a big achievement, considering Inter’s locker room was on a rift when Chivu got the job. Tension boiled between two senior players, Hakan Calhanoglu and the team’s captain, Lautaro Martinez.

But Inter managed to overcome the situation. Both players also played key roles under Chivu. They played more than 1,450 minutes together under Chivu. Martinez scored 22 goals and six assists; meanwhile, Calhanoglu contributed 12 goals & seven assists for Inter in all competitions this season.

A feud between players on the same team proved to be critical damage in Spain, where Barcelona made history by securing the league in El Clásico against their bitter rival, Real Madrid (5/10).

Injuries have already tempered Real Madrid’s season, and it got worse just days before the big game against Barcelona. Two of their midfielders, Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde, bust each other up on the training ground. Meanwhile, two of their superstars, Vinicius Juniors and Kylian Mbappe, are reportedly battling for influence in the locker room.

Ego-riddled Real Madrid was no match for Barcelona. They lost 2-0 against Blaugrana, securing the title for Blaugrana -Barcelona’s nickname. This was only the second time Spain’s league title was decided in the El Clásico. The first time for FC Barcelona, after losing the title-decider match in 1932.

Barcelona secured its 29th league title with two games left in the 2025/26 season. They celebrate the win with a contract renewal for their head coach, Hansi Flick, until 2028 (with an additional one-year option).

Bayern secured Kompany service way before Manchester City’s interest.

Flick’s former team, Bayern Munich, also retained their league title in Germany’s 1.Bundesliga. The Bavarian club was untouchable. Always on top of the league since the first week of the season.

Bayern’s domination helped their manager, Vincent Kompany, secure a contract extension since the middle of the season, October 2025. Keeping him in the club until 2029.

That contract extension proves to be vital for Bayern. Kompany’s service is known to be a target for Manchester City. The English side is looking for Pep Guardiola’s replacement after the 55-year-old manager confirmed that the 2025/26 season will be his last managing the club.

Kompany is one of the names on their shortlist, but thanks to the contract extension, Manchester City reportedly tend to approach ex-Chelsea manager, Enzo Maresca, instead.

The 2025/26 season is about to wrap up. Within Europe’s top five leagues, only the Premier League and Serie A crowned new champions. The other three (La Liga, Ligue 1, and 1.Bundesliga) were retained by the previous winners.