Werder Bremen and Ajax finally held off stubborn opposition to win their respective league titles, while Valencia took advantage of bumbling Real Madrid to lift the Spanish crown on Sunday.
In England, Premier League champion Arsenal increased their unbeaten run to 37 matches, and stand on the brink of going through an entire season without a loss.
Arsenal, who play their last match against relegated Leicester on Saturday, topped Fulham 1-0 on Jose Antonio Reyes’s ninth-minute strike.
Valencia beat Sevilla 2-0 to win their second league title in three years, while 2003 champion Real Madrid lost for the fourth time in five league matches.
Vicente Rodriguez and Ruben Baraja were the heroes for Valencia, who won their sixth league title.
”The key to winning the title was that when Madrid was so far in front we didn’t lose hope,” Roberto Ayala said.
Valencia can make it a double this season if they beat Marseille in the Uefa Cup final on May 19.
German champion Werder Bremen won their fourth Bundesliga title after stopping defending champion Bayern Munich 3-1.
Ivan Klasnic, Johan Micoud and Ailton scored a goal each for Bremen, who ran their unbeaten streak to 23. Roy Makaay netted for trophy-less Bayern.
”We worked very hard for this,” Micoud said. ”We’ve believed for a long time that we’d win the title, but we didn’t speak about it openly.”
Bremen last won the title in 1993.
Ajax won their 29th Dutch league title by beating NAC Breda 2-0.
Wesley Sneijder and Zlatan Ibrahimovic were the goalscorers.
”The best thing about this season is being champion. Our goal has been achieved but we still want to grow,” Ajax coach Ronald Koeman told Dutch television.
Spain
Real Madrid and FC Barcelona all but handed the title to Valencia as each lost on Saturday.
Samuel Eto’o scored two goals to lead visiting Mallorca over Madrid 3-2, while Celta de Vigo nipped third-place FC Barcelona 1-0 on Edu Schmidt’s strike.
Valencia won the league with 77 points and two rounds to spare.
Real Madrid are next with 70 points, followed by Barcelona with 69 and Deportivo de la Coruna, who lost to Espanyol 2-0, with 65.
England
Chelsea clinched second place and a spot in the Champions League group stage after holding Manchester United to a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford in the English Premier League.
Jesper Gronkjaer scored first for Chelsea, but Ruud van Nistelrooy equalised after the Blues were reduced to 10 men.
Manchester United will play in the Champions League qualifying round, while Liverpool look set to claim the fourth and final spot in Europe’s top club competition.
Italy
Inter Milan claimed the fourth and final Champions League berth from Italy after nipping Parma 1-0. Adriano scored the lone goal against his former team.
Serie A champion AC Milan and runner-up AS Roma, who both lost, have already claimed spots in the group stage, while Juventus are guaranteed of finishing in third place.
Milan lost to Reggina 2-1, while Perugia topped Roma 3-1.
Juventus beat Sampdoria 2-0.
Germany
Despite their loss, Bayern can still clinch direct qualification to the group stage of the Champions League by finishing second in the Bundesliga.
Third-place Stuttgart gave the Munich team some room after losing to Hamburger SV 2-1.
Bremen won the league with 74 points. Bayern are still second with 65 points, followed by Stuttgart with 61. Bayer Leverkusen, who beat Cologne 2-0, are next with 59 points.
Stuttgart can cut the gap next week at home against Bayern.
The Netherlands
PSV Eindhoven clinched second place in the Dutch league and spot in the Champions League’s qualifying round after beating ADO The Hague 3-2.
Park Ji-sung, Mateja Kezman and Johan Vonlanthen scored for PSV.
Ajax won the title with 77 points and one match remaining, followed by PSV with 71 and Feyenoord, who will finish third after downing RBC Roosendaal 4-1, with 65.
Portugal
Benfica clinched a spot in the Champions League’s qualifying stage after a 0-0 draw against Leiria in the Portuguese league.
The point was enough to ensure third-place Sporting, who beat Guimaraes 1-0, cannot overtake their Lisbon rival. Sporting will play in the Uefa Cup next season.
Joao Pinto scored the lone goal for Sporting.
FC Porto, who clinched their seventh league title in 10 years last month, got three goals from Benni McCarthy to beat Pacos Ferreira 3-1. Porto are also in the Portuguese Cup final and the Champions Cup final.
France
Lyon stayed in first place in the French league after beating Metz 2-1, while Champions Cup finalist Monaco got a late winner from Ludovic Giuly to beat Marseille 1-0.
Brazilians Juninho and Giovane Elber each scored for two-time defending champions Lyon.
Lyon are in first place with 73 points, followed by Monaco with 71 and Paris Saint-Germain, who nipped Rennes 1-0, with 70.
Scotland
Chris Sutton scored in injury time as Scottish champion Celtic beat Old Firm-rival Rangers 1-0 in the Scottish Premier League.
Celtic, who clinched the league title three weeks ago, have now won five straight against their fierce Glasgow rival.
Greece
Cyprus striker Michalis Constantinou scored two second-half goals to help Panathinaikos win the Greek Cup after beating archrival Olympiakos 3-1.
Dimitris Papadopoulos also scored for Panathinaikos, but Giovanni equalised.
Panathinaikos are looking for a double, leading seven-time defending champion Olympiakos by two points with just two rounds remaining in the Greek league.
Turkey
Fenerbahce won their 15th Turkish league title after trouncing Denizlispor 4-0.
The Istanbul team have 76 points and a five-point cushion over second-place Trabzonspor with just one round remaining. Galatasaray beat Trabzonspor 4-2. — Sapa-AP