Four points clear in La Liga with three games to go, and into their first Champions League Final. Imagine what odds you could have got at the start of the season on that scenario for Atletico Madrid, writes Sky Sports News' David Garrido.
GERMANY
The fizz has gone out of
Bayern Munich's season after clinching the Bundesliga title in record time, and it's fair to say they've paid the price for their lack of intensity. A draw against Hoffenheim was followed by defeats against Augsburg and Borussia Dortmund, and their woeful first-half display against Real Madrid this week meant they went out of Europe with a whimper.
Bayern's focus now shifts to the German Cup final, as they attempt to at least redo the domestic double, but there they'll meet an in-form
Dortmund once more. That recent 3-0 loss against their rivals might not have seemed much at the time, but it could prove to be a big psychological boost for Jurgen Klopp and co. Dortmund also won the last final they contested, the German Super Cup last July, and you can bet Klopp will be using all of that to motivate his players.
Schalke need a point to secure third place, while the race for fourth looks like a fight between three teams -
Bayer Leverkusen (now without Sami Hyypia at the helm),
Wolfsburg and
Borussia Monchengladbach, with the latter two meeting on the final day of the season. It's in Leverkusen's hands, and with games coming up against two of the bottom five, they shouldn't let this one slip after a poor second half of the season.
The other big story in Germany has been the fall and fall of seven-time champions
Hamburg, as just three wins in 19 league games has left them needing a miracle to avoid relegation. Former Hannover coach Mirko Slomka came in in mid-February and enjoyed a win over Dortmund in his first game in charge, but while things have gone well at the Imtech Arena, Slomka hasn't turned around their catastrophic away form and it's now eight straight defeats on the road.
Second-bottom
Nurnberg are another historically successful team on their third manager of the season. Eight defeats in nine led to Gertjan Verbeek being shown the door, and Nurnberg are all but down, lying six points from safety with two games to go and a far inferior goal difference to Stuttgart. One man who deserves none of the blame is Josip Drmic, having netted 16 goals.
ITALY
In Serie A,
Juventus have maintained their comfortable lead (eight points with three matches left) with ease and can clinch the title on Monday night as they host Atalanta.
Fernando Llorente has again proved his worth in recent encounters, and it just goes to show how shrewdly the club strengthened last summer. Llorente and Carlos Tevez have scored 38 times between them, but cost only a combined £8m, with the Spaniard arriving on a free transfer.
Roma have battled gamely to keep the title race going to the third-last weekend, but even a run of nine consecutive wins hasn't been enough to make up the ground. Mattia Destro also showed his good and bad side, scoring a hat-trick at Cagliari, but he was then retrospectively punished for punching Davide Ascoli during the same game. Destro should be back as Roma welcome Juve to the Stadio Olimpico next Friday, and then finish their campaign at Genoa.
Rafael Benitez's
Napoli have been coasting in the league recently with draws at Udinese and Inter Milan, but with a place in the Champions League qualifiers virtually assured, his priority is Saturday's Coppa Italia final against fourth-placed
Fiorentina. It's a trophy Rafa hasn't won before, so victory would enhance yet further one of the most impressive CVs in European football.
At the bottom,
Catania have hired and fired again, with Maurizio Pellegrino their latest man in poisoned-chalice position, and the managerial madness continues at second-bottom
Livorno too. Domenico di Carlo lasted exactly three months, with the club then turning to the man he replaced, Davide Nicola. Both Catania and Livorno look doomed, but it's one from three for the other relegation place - Bologna, Sassuolo and Chievo the sides in trouble.
FRANCE
Paris Saint-Germain are in an identical position to Juventus in the French top division, knowing another three points would guarantee them a successful defence of their title. They'll have to wait until Wednesday, though - Rennes and Guingamp are Saturday's unlikely French Cup finalists, so both PSG and Monaco, as respective league opponents, will have their weekend fixtures put back.
Laurent Blanc's side have had an up-and-down month. A galling defeat on away goals to Chelsea in the Champions League obviously left a bad taste in the mouth, as they lost at Lyon in the league, but they then beat the same opponents in the French League Cup final six days later, thanks to an Edinson Cavani brace. The Uruguayan has found his mojo again in the last few games - good news for his World Cup momentum, bad news for England.
For
Monaco, second place is a near certainty, but the most intriguing subplot has been the form of Dimitar Berbatov. His utterly insolent lob against Nice is proof he is class when he puts his mind to it, and he followed it up with two more goals at Ajaccio. Eight in 13 is a none-too-shabby goals-to-games ratio in any league, especially for a 33-year-old with question marks surrounding his attitude and temperament.
Lille can secure a place in the Champions League qualifiers with a win at Bastia on Friday night, while the race for the Europa League is on between the two Rhone rivals,
Saint-Etienne and
Lyon. At the bottom, Ajaccio and Valenciennes are already down, and Sochaux are most likely to join them in Ligue 2.
But if results go their way, the side on the Swiss border could force a winner-stays-up battle with fourth-bottom Evian. Tired legs are the one common denominator across Europe - for some, they'll have to go just another 90 minutes to secure the prize, but for others, especially in Spain and England, these next few weeks will push them right to the limit.
