Chapter 454: The Premier League Finale
On May 22, 2017, the day after Manchester United clinched the title, the city of Manchester was still buzzing with excitement and joy.
At a villa in Wilmslow, a suburb of Manchester, Sir Alex Ferguson and his wife Cathy were enjoying the warm morning sun on their balcony. On Ferguson's lap was a special edition of the Manchester Evening News, celebrating United's title win.
The gentle breeze rustled the pages as the elderly man flipped through the newspaper.
The front page featured a picture of Mourinho lifting the Premier League trophy surrounded by his players, with fireworks exploding in the background.
The second page showed British Prime Minister Theresa May, Qatari Emir Tamim, and United owner Jassim visiting the dressing room to congratulate the team and pose with the trophy.
The third page depicted Manchester United's grand victory parade. On the double-decker bus, team captain Rooney and Bruno held the Premier League trophy high. Around the bus, a massive crowd of fans celebrated with expressions of excitement and joy.
The fourth page displayed the final Premier League standings for the season:
Manchester United: 30 wins, 5 draws, 3 losses, 96 goals scored, 27 goals conceded, 69 goal difference, 95 points, ranked first.Chelsea: 30 wins, 3 draws, 5 losses, 86 goals scored, 36 goals conceded, 50 goal difference, 93 points, ranked second.Tottenham: 26 wins, 8 draws, 4 losses, 86 goals scored, 28 goals conceded, 58 goal difference, 86 points, ranked third.Manchester City: 22 wins, 8 draws, 8 losses, 80 goals scored, 46 goals conceded, 34 goal difference, 74 points, ranked fourth.Arsenal: 23 wins, 5 draws, 10 losses, 77 goals scored, 45 goals conceded, 32 goal difference, 74 points, ranked fifth.Liverpool: 22 wins, 8 draws, 8 losses, 78 goals scored, 48 goals conceded, 30 goal difference, 74 points, ranked sixth.Everton: 17 wins, 9 draws, 12 losses, 62 goals scored, 46 goals conceded, 16 goal difference, 60 points, ranked seventh.
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United's title win tied the Premier League record for points in a season. Mourinho equaled the 95-point record he set with Chelsea in the 2004-2005 season.
Chelsea, with 93 points, became the highest-scoring runner-up in Premier League history, surpassing United's 2011-2012 season.
Tottenham, with 86 points, also became the highest-scoring third-place team in Premier League history. In the 25-year history of the Premier League, this point total would have won the title in 11 seasons.
However, Tottenham only managed to finish third.
Guardiola's team salvaged some pride by securing a Champions League playoff spot with a high-scoring match.
Wenger's Arsenal failed to maintain their advantage, being overtaken by City's five-goal win in the final round, ending their 20-year streak of Champions League qualifications.
Klopp's Liverpool made significant progress compared to last season, gaining 14 more points, but still finished sixth and will compete in the Europa League next season. This was due to United winning the League Cup, thus transferring their Europa League spot to the sixth-placed team. Without this, Liverpool might not have qualified for European competition.
Everton, in seventh place, were fortunate. Since United and Arsenal, the FA Cup finalists, both qualified for Europe through the league, the Europa League spot from the FA Cup went to Everton. They will start from the third qualifying round.
Relegated teams were Hull City, Middlesbrough, and Sunderland.
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Bruno won the Premier League Golden Boot with 38 goals; Tottenham's Harry Kane was second with 29 goals; Everton's Lukaku took third with 25 goals.
Bruno also led the assist chart with 21 assists, breaking Thierry Henry's single-season record of 20 assists from the 2002-2003 season.
Bruno became the second player in Premier League history to achieve 20+ goals and 20+ assists in a single season, following Henry. He broke both the single-season goals and assists records, becoming the first player in Premier League history to achieve 30+ goals and 20+ assists in one season.
Many thought Henry's dual 20+ record was unbeatable, but Bruno surpassed it in both categories.
Compared to his previous season at Udinese with 39 goals and 29 assists, Bruno fell short, highlighting the Premier League's higher level of competition compared to Serie A.
Manchester City's De Bruyne ranked second with 18 assists, and Tottenham's Eriksen was third with 15 assists.
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With 38 goals and 21 assists, leading United to the Premier League title, Bruno swept all major individual awards: FWA Player of the Season, PFA Player of the Season, and Premier League Player of the Season.
As Bruno was under 23, he also won the PFA Young Player of the Year.
Bruno set a new record with six Player of the Month awards in one season. He won from August to December and again in April, scoring 6 goals and 3 assists in 6 matches, leading United to a 5-1-0 record.
This tied him with Liverpool legend Gerrard for the most Player of the Month awards in Premier League history. Gerrard took his whole career to achieve this, while Bruno did it in one season!
Bruno was also named in the Premier League Team of the Season, Best Midfielder, Fans' Player of the Season, and Barclays Player of the Season.
Bruno had won over 15 individual awards this season!
However, Bruno wasn't overwhelmed by these honors. Having already won the FIFA Ballon d'Or, these awards didn't excite him as much.
More importantly, the season wasn't over for him and United. They still had the Europa League and FA Cup finals to play.
On May 22, the day after the Premier League ended, Bruno and the United squad flew to Stockholm on owner Jassim's luxurious Boeing private jet to prepare for the Europa League final on May 24.
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United's opponent in the Europa League final was Ajax from the Dutch Eredivisie.
Ajax, a historic club renowned for their youth academy, is known for producing top talent, earning them the nickname "The Sons of the Gods."
Ajax has produced stars like the Dutch trio, Ibrahimović, Bergkamp, and Sneijder, who have greatly contributed to European football.
Ajax boasts a rich history of continental success, with four Champions League titles, one Europa League title, one European Cup Winners' Cup, three UEFA Super Cups, and two Intercontinental Cups, totaling 11 major titles. In comparison, United has three Champions League titles, one European Cup Winners' Cup, one UEFA Super Cup, one Intercontinental Cup, and one FIFA Club World Cup, totaling seven major titles.
Ajax was also the second club to complete the European treble and one of only four clubs to achieve this feat.
However, following the Bosman ruling, Ajax's presence in European competitions waned. Despite this, as one of the Eredivisie's traditional powerhouses, they remain active in European competitions.
Ajax finished second in the Eredivisie, just one point behind Feyenoord, and will start in the third round of Champions League qualifiers next season. But if they beat United, they'll qualify directly for the Champions League group stage.
Ajax will give their all to secure a Champions League spot and prevent United from joining them as a treble-winning club.
(End of the chapter)
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