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Aston Villa
After finishing sixth one season, Aston Villa returned to the top 4 of the Premier League, securing a spot in the Champions League. Under coach Unai Emery, the team also decisively defeated Freiburg 3-0 to win the Europa League, the club's third European trophy after the European Cup and the European Super Cup in 1982. They achieved all this while their net spending (player purchases minus player sales) decreased from 85 million USD in the 2024-2025 season to a negative 23 million USD in the 2025-2026 season.
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Barca
Under Hansi Flick, the team successfully defended two of their three domestic titles, defeating Real 3-2 in the Spanish Super Cup final and then beating the same opponent 2-0 in the return leg of El Clasico to win La Liga with three matches to spare. Barca's net spending in the 2025-2026 season was a negative 21 million USD, significantly lower than Atletico's 133 million USD and Real's 247 million USD.
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Bayern
Under coach Vincent Kompany, the team successfully defended the Bundesliga title. They also defeated Stuttgart 3-0 in the German Cup final and 2-1 in the German Super Cup match. In the Champions League, Bayern's journey ended in the semi-finals, where they lost to PSG, who went on to successfully defend their crown, with an aggregate score of 5-6.
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Arsenal
Under Mikel Arteta, the team ended a 22-year drought and a run of three consecutive second-place finishes in the Premier League. They clinched the title with 85 points, seven points ahead of Man City and 25 points clear of last season's champions, Liverpool. In the Champions League final against PSG, Arsenal's team drew 1-1 after 120 minutes, ultimately losing 3-4 in the penalty shootout.
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PSG
The narrow victory over Arsenal marked a significant step forward for Luis Enrique's team: becoming the ninth club to successfully defend the European Cup/Champions League, following Real, Benfica, Inter, Ajax, Bayern, Liverpool, Nottingham Forest, and AC Milan. They also became the second club to successfully defend the Champions League title, after Real's run from 2016-2018. Beyond the European crown, PSG also successfully defended their Ligue 1 title and set a record of 14 trophies.
Ngoc Tuan
Photo: AP
