Good morning, Free Agents.

Welcome to the The Free Transfer— your 5-minute daily football newsletter.

Here’s the Weekend Round-Up:

• Title races— Barcelona clinch first LaLiga title since 2019 🏆️ 🔴 🔵

• European places— races heat up 🔥

• Relegation battles— things are looking tight for the final weeks 😬 🤏 

TITLE RACES— BARCA WIN LALIGA 🏆️ 🔴 🔵

LaLiga 🇪🇸 

Barca win LaLiga with win over Espanyol 🔴 🔵

• It was only a matter of time for Barca, as they have maintained a healthy lead over any domestic rivals for most of the second half of the season

• Xavi’s second season at the club has brought the LaLiga trophy back to Barcelona, after financial “levers” allowed him to bring in his players

• It is yet to be seen the kind of summer they will have, but as Xavi knows — what Barca fans desire most is the Champions League trophy

• Could Messi help boost their hopes of European glory? Would that mean sacrificing current players to accomodate? 👀 

Premier League 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 

Manchester City are one win away from title 🔵⚪️ 

• After beating Arsenal in late April, City took the lead in a title race and haven’t looked like losing since

• With yet another disappointing result from Arsenal this weekend against Brighton, City take one step closer to a historic treble this season

• A home win next weekend vs. Chelsea would clinch their 5th title in 6 years 🏆️ 

Bundesliga 🇩🇪 

Bayern & Dortmund win big— it will be a photo finish 📸 

• Both Bayern & Dortmund scored >5 goals in their weekend wins

• RB Leipzig are the last big hurdle for the Rekordmeister, with RB coming to Allianz arena next weekend to try and spoil Bayern’s title hopes

• Dortmund will be hoping for a result in that match to jump Bayern 🤲

Serie A 🇮🇹 

Ligue 1 🇫🇷 

PSG edge closer with big win over Ajaccio 🥖 

• For all intents and purposes, PSG will clinch the title next weekend

• With 2 games remaining, they would be 6 points ahead of Lens with a +17 goal difference.

• With questions around Messi’s and Neymar’s futures, it feels like this could be a turning point summer for PSG

EUROPEAN PLACE RACES HEAT UP 🇪🇺 🥵 

LaLiga 🇪🇸 

Sociedad miss a big chance to lock in 4th place 🟦⬜️ 

• Sociedad’s draw against a good Girona side sees them eyeing down 4 tough games to end the season against opponents including Barca, Atletico, and Sevilla

• Villarreal’s big win over Athletic Club keeps their Champions League hopes alive

Premier League 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 

Brighton’s big win has them jump Spurs and Villa 🔵⚪️ 

• Brighton’s impressive 3-0 away win against Arsenal has them in the driver’s seat for 6th place. With two games in hand, they’re strongly positioned to pip both Spurs and Villa.

• Newcastle’s slip-up to Leeds has cost them two points in the race for Top 4. Two wins in their final 3 games will secure them Champions League football for the first time since 1998.

• United’s win keeps Liverpool at arm’s length.

Bundesliga 🇩🇪 

Union Berlin get breathing room with win over Freiburg 😮‍💨 

• Union Berlin’s (4th) 4-2 win over Freiburg (5th) creates a 3-point gap between the two. Union Berlin have 2 easy remaining fixtures, while Freiburg’s are much tougher.

• Frankfurt are still alive, hoping for Bayer Leverkeusen and Wolfsburg to slip up in the final few weeks in the race for the Europa League spot.

Serie A 🇮🇹 

Inter and Juve take advantage of top 4 rivals’ slip-ups 🍌 💥 

• After Lazio’s surprising draw to Lecce to start the weekend, other Top 4 rivals would have hoped to steal a march on Sarri’s men.

• Instead, Milan lost 0-2 to 17th-place Spezia, Atalanta lost 0-1 to 15th-place Salernitana, and Roma drew 0-0 with 9th-place Bologna.

• Inter and Juve both won comfortably over Sassuolo and Cremonese to put some distance between themselves and the chasers.

Ligue 1 🇫🇷 

Monaco maintain 5 point gap to fifth with draw vs. Lille 🤝 

• Monaco’s draw with Lille keeps them at arm’s length. Rennes’s win keeps them in the hunt for Champions League, though they need help.

• Monaco vs. Lyon & Lille vs. Marseille this coming weekend will shape the top 4 race for the final 2 weeks of the season 👀 

RELEGATION PITY PARTIES BEGIN 🔻 💀 

LaLiga 🇪🇸 

Elche may be relegated but don’t count them out! 🙃 

• Sometimes having nothing to lose can be to your advantage. Relegated Elche beat Atletico this weekend to prevent them from jumping Real Madrid in second place!

• With 4 games to go, anyone below 12th place Mallorca are in genuine danger of still being relegated.

• With many matches between relegation-threatened teams coming in the last 4 weeks, this is going to be an unbelievable finish. Stay frosty. 👀 

Premier League 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 

Thanks for the memories, Southampton 🔴⚪️ 

• Southampton were unceremoniously relegated after a 2-0 home loss to Fulham. Some frank words from their captain after being relegated:

• Leeds and Forest secured two huge draws against Newcastle and Chelsea.

• Everton predictably lost to the soon-to-be-recrowned champions.

• Thank goodness West Ham beat United last week, otherwise they’d be deep in the relegation race right now.

• If Leicester can pull off a win tonight vs. Liverpool, they’d jump to 17th! 👀 

Bundesliga 🇩🇪 

No one is dead… yet🏃 💨 

• Hertha Berlin are deep in 18th place, but can mathematically still escape. Their match vs. 15th place Bochum next weekend will prove pivotal.

• Very tough games next weekend for Augsburg, Hoffenheim, Schalke, and Stuttgart. This is where we will see what these teams are made of.

• Two weeks to go! ⏳️ 

Serie A 🇮🇹 

Who will follow Sampdoria to Serie B? 🧟 

• Spezia’s shock 2-0 win vs. Milan has given them a lifeline, as did Lecce’s draw with Lazio.

• Lecce vs. Spezia will be a huge 6-pointer next weekend.

• Cremonese would seal their fate with a loss to Bologna next weekend.

Ligue 1 🇫🇷 

Three teams relegated— who will be the fourth? 👀

• Angers, Troyes, and Ajaccio are relegated. The race for the 4th spot will be juicy.

• Strasbourg, Brest, Auxerre, and Nantes are in a 4-way race for the 4th spot. All with fairly difficult schedules to end the season, it’s anyone’s guess who will fall to 17th.

• If Strasbourg can get a win over relegated Troyes next weekend, they would be nearly safe.

Monday in May means Champions League tomorrow. See you then for our Inter-Milan second leg preview and more 🫡 

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