Well, I think the final result just about tells the story of the year's betting:
Sevilla - Barcelona P:P (Thunderstorm)
The Pools Panel can say away win as much as it likes, it won't cut any ice with the book-makers. A loss, a draw, and a no result this week-end, bringing the betting year to a soggy close. The month was -4.25/22.5.
The bottom line: the betting is down, fractionally. Down by 4 units out of 217.5 bet; given that book-makers operate on a margin of around 10%, I reckon that's a moral victory, if not an actual monetary one.
The league-by-league break-down:
EngI -13.75 / 55.5
EnII + 5.00 / 19.5
SctA +22.95 / 45
SpnI + 5.70 / 28.5
Cups - 4.80 / 12
Euro -19.10 / 57
The serious point to take away is that we probably shouldn't be betting on the UEFA Cup, as that showed just three wins all season.
Domestically, West Ham are the fifth side into Europe next season, joining Spurs-or-Arsenal in the UEFA Cup Final Qualifying Round. The Hammers beat Middlesbrough 1:0 in the FA Cup semi-final; they'll play Liverpool, 2:1 winners over Chelsea, and winners of a 33-point upset.
Spurs and Arsenal drew 1:1 in an ill-tempered affair. Arsenal's qualification for the European League is still in their own hands; if they beat Villarreal and Barcelona, they'll take the spot, and Spurs will go into the UEFA Cup. Portsmouth beat Sunderland 2:1, leaving Birmingham (0:0 at Everton) in trouble.
One upset in Scotland, where Hibs did their bit to finish third, beating Hearts 2:1 (35 upset points). Rangers and Celtic drew 0:0. English II saw Sheff W - Reading 1:1 (17).
More upsets on the continent, starting with Monaco's defeat of French champs Lyon. Monaco had something to play for, and won 2:1 (39). Bayer Leverkusen beat Hamburg 2:0 (36), it was Villarreal - Sociedad 0:2 (32), and Juventus - Lazio 1:1 (17) means the Italian league title remains open for at least one more week.
Other European qualifiers:
Nancy (as French League Cup winners) will appear in the UEFA Cup.
Porto has won the Portugese league; Sporting Lisbon and Benfica will take the next two places. Vitoria Setubal has the Cup place, Sporting Braga is in through the league.
AZ Alkmaar and Feyenoord lost their Dutch playoffs and will take UEFA Cup spots; Gronigen (5th) and Ajax (4th) will play for the Euroleague place.
Galatasaray and Fenerbahce will be Turkey's entries into the Euroleague, with Bestiktas qualifying through the cup.
To the surprise of no-one, Dinamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk will be Ukraine's entries to the Euroleague. Metalurg Zaporizhia take the cup place.
Israel's league has been won by Maccabi Haifa, with Hapoel Tel-Aviv and Beitar Jerusalem entering the UEFA Cup.
Red Star Belgrade has won in Serbia; city rivals Partizan and OFK will be in the UEFA.
Sion has won the Swiss cup.
Sheriff Tiraspol are the Moldovan champions, with Nistru Otachi entering through the cup.
Vaduz has won the Liechtenstein cup.
Pyunik Yerevan the Armenian champs, Mika Ashtarak second.
In Estonia, it's TVMK Tallinn ahead of Levadia Tallinn.
Northern Ireland: Linfield top, Glentoran through the cup, Portadown third.
Wales: Llansantffraid over Llanelli.
Andorra: Rangers win, St Julia go to the Intertoto.
The big match is at the foot of Division IV, where Stockport host Torquay in a loser-is-sure-to-go-down match. Some catch-up matches in England I this mid-week, plus semi-finals of the European League and UEFA Cup. Live coverage:
Tu 7.30 ITV / TV3 / DSF / TSN / RDS - Villarreal -v- Arsenal
We 7.30 RTE2 / Sat1 / TSN / RDS - Barcelona -v- AC Milan
Th 7.30 ITV4 - Middlesbrough -v- Steaua Bucharest
Th 7.30 DSF - Schalke 04 -v- Sevilla
Fr 7.45 Eurosport 2 - Catania -v- Verona
Also highlights of Euroleague matches 11pm Thursday and 8.30am Friday on Eurosport (2.30pm on RDS.) UEFA highlights 10.30 Thursday and 9.30 Friday, also on Eurosport. It's a shame that no television station in the UK will be covering Barca's match until Thursday night.
