May 23rd.
The sun was warm and gentle, and a breeze carrying the damp scent of the Atlantic drifted softly over every inch of Lisbon, Portugal.
Julien had arrived in this seaside city together with his family.
After days of celebration in Liverpool, he was, for the moment, nothing more than an ordinary man spending time with the people he loved.
A rare stretch of ease.
Lisbon carried an air of languor and romance all its own.
Orange-red rooftops spread across the hillsides in loose rows, set against the deep blue sky and the clear waters of the Atlantic.
Old tile-clad buildings bore the marks of passing time, and cobblestone streets wound their way through the old town, where trams occasionally rolled past, their bells ringing out a note of modernity amid all that history.
In the distance, the Belém Tower stood along the coastline, watching over a hundred years of change in this port city.
Sea breezes stirred the palm trees along the shore, and they swayed gently.
Everything felt utterly leisurely.
Whenever a match brought him to a city like this, Julien never had the leisure to notice any of it.
The afternoon of his second day in Lisbon.
Julien took his family aboard a yacht he'd booked in advance, and they set off slowly into the depths of the Atlantic.
In that moment, there was only the laughter of family, the sea breeze, and the waves.
The yacht pulled slowly away from the dock. Behind them, Lisbon's skyline receded until it vanished, leaving nothing but an endless stretch of blue sea ahead. Sunlight scattered across the water, glittering as though someone had strewn it with flecks of gold.
Julien, in nothing but a pair of shorts, leaned casually against the yacht's railing, closed his eyes, and let the Atlantic wind wash over him.
All the noise that had followed the championship was smoothed away by the sea air.
For now, he didn't have to think about the coming World Cup, didn't have to think about next season's Champions League campaign. He could simply let himself enjoy this brief moment of release.
But there were still some matters of work he couldn't quite escape.
René came to pester him. "That letter of Valdés's has driven up our buzz in Spain quite a bit. The Player's Tribune has basically opened doors across all of European football now."
Julien nodded.
He'd read the letter Valdés had published on Player's Tribune.
The moment Julien learned Valdés was leaving Barça, he'd had René reach out to Valdés right away, arranging for his farewell letter to run as an exclusive on Player's Tribune.
So far, it was working well. And of course, it wasn't just Valdés.
This summer, football had seen so many stories of parting—though perhaps it wasn't only this summer; every summer staged its own silent dramas of farewell.
Most people simply never paid them any mind.
So many familiar faces were waving goodbye to the pitch they loved. So many bonds, forged over years together, were quietly coming undone.
No one could stay with a single club forever.
Puyol, Barça's hard-nosed captain, had chosen retirement—chosen to lay down his armour, carrying with him a generation's memories of youth.
Zanetti, Inter's unbreakable banner, had held the black-and-blue for over a decade, steady and diligent through both peaks and valleys alike, now was bidding farewell to Inter's fans in the same way through retirement.
Giggs, United's decorated veteran, had spent his entire career in red, standing by his club through countless glorious moments, writing his own legend with nimble dribbles and pinpoint passes. But in the end, even he couldn't outrun the years, and he chose to bow out with dignity, bringing his playing career to a close.
And this past season, Giggs had even served as the club's caretaker manager while still a player.
The reason was simple enough—United had sacked Moyes, and with no chance of reaching the Champions League, the club's management hadn't bothered finding a proper interim manager.
They'd simply handed the reins to Giggs, the most respected man in the dressing room.
And then there was—Rivaldo too, the Ballon d'Or winner who had once dazzled the football world with his stunning footwork and unbelievable goals, leaving behind countless unforgettable moments.
Now he, too, had chosen to retire, formally bidding farewell to the pitch.
Beyond these retiring legends, the transfer market had been just as lively.
The first name that came to Julien's mind was naturally Valdés—after all, the man had written for Player's Tribune.
Having come up through Barça's youth academy and spent his entire career with the Blaugrana, he had witnessed the club's countless triumphs. Now he was leaving the Camp Nou he'd called home for so long, formally closing the book on his Barça career.
Back in March, he'd torn his ACL, ending his season.
Leaving Barça was also a way of making room for someone else.
Mönchengladbach's young talent Ter Stegen—gifted, full of promise, known in Germany as "the little Kahn."
He was now bound for Barça, ready to take up the goalkeeper's mantle, carrying the weight of enormous expectations as he began his own journey with a giant club.
And Ferdinand, the backbone of United's defence, who had guarded the club's back line for so many years.
Now he too was leaving Old Trafford, the place he'd defended for so long, setting down his duties and closing out this legendary chapter of his career.
Lewandowski, who had made his name at Dortmund, proving himself goal after goal.
With Klopp's departure from the club, he too had confirmed he was leaving the Yellow-and-Blacks, moving on to join Bayern Munich...
And there was more still. So much more.
Julien let out a soft sigh, his heart was full of emotions.
Football had always been a place of constant comings and goings—no reunion was permanent, and no parting was final, either.
Life was much the same.
A book, a journey, a stretch of living—every farewell carried within it the seed of some new beginning.
Of course.
The comings and goings of players never stopped each league from crowning its champion in the end.
This year, aside from the Champions League, every other league had already concluded.
The Premier League needed no further comment: Liverpool had won their first league title in twenty-two years!
As for the Bundesliga—Bayern had successfully defended their title. Dortmund, Schalke, and Leverkusen rounded out second through fourth, and all four clubs would represent the Bundesliga in next season's Champions League.
Wolfsburg, Gladbach, and Mainz secured Europa League spots. Braunschweig and Nuremberg were relegated, while Hamburg, finishing third from bottom, would face a relegation playoff.
Bayern had clinched the league title a full month and a half earlier, and this season the club had also set a string of Bundesliga records.
Their unbeaten run of 53 matches broke Hamburg's thirty-year-old record for the longest unbeaten streak in the league. And having already secured the title with several rounds still to play by the end of March, Bayern became the earliest-ever champions in Bundesliga history—successfully defending their crown in the process.
Bayern's record of 34 matches—29 wins, 3 draws, 2 losses, for 90 points also stood as the second-best points tally in Bundesliga history.
On the scoring charts, Lewandowski netted a brace in the final round to finish with 20 goals, edging out Bayern's own leading scorer, Mandžukić, to claim his first Golden Boot.
Mandžukić finished second with 18 goals. Nuremberg's striker Drmic, despite his club's relegation, came in third with 17.
Reus, Adrian Ramos, and Firmino were tied for fourth with 16 goals apiece.
Beyond his fourth-place finish on the scoring charts, Reus also contributed 13 assists, topping the Bundesliga's assist charts for the season.
Firmino ranked second in assists, with Bayern's Müller and Ribéry tied for third.
As for Mandžukić, sitting in second on the scoring charts—he probably wasn't feeling particularly pleased about it.
According to reports from several German outlets, he was very likely about to be let go by Bayern.
On one hand, Lewandowski had been signed specifically to replace him.
On the other hand, there was a far more grounded reason—Mandžukić had fallen out with Guardiola.
The tension between Guardiola and Mandžukić had, by this point, become basically public knowledge.
Guardiola had left Mandžukić out of the squad entirely for the German Cup final—the player wasn't even named in the matchday squad.
According to Germany's Bild, Guardiola had firmly made up his mind to move Mandžukić on, and the two had already said their goodbyes in Munich.
Bild reported that Guardiola's grievances with Mandžukić came down to three things: the two men simply didn't get along, Mandžukić's attitude in training had been poor, and his challenges in training had grown reckless.
The falling-out between Guardiola and Mandžukić traced back to the second leg of this season's Champions League semifinal, when Bayern lost to Real Madrid.
After that match, Bayern's manager, Guardiola, had delivered a passionate speech in the locker room, taking full responsibility for the team's defeat upon himself.
Hearing Guardiola's words, his favoured player Rafinha had embraced him with eyes brimming in tears.
But one player seemed entirely unmoved—Mandžukić.
After Guardiola finished speaking, Mandžukić had even let a look of clear disdain appear on his face, and it left the manager deeply unhappy.
And so, the crack began to spread.
Mandžukić had originally enjoyed the backing of Bayern's front office, but now, with the club's leadership firmly behind Guardiola as always, that support had shifted to standing behind the manager's decision instead.
Surely no club would sack its manager over a single player?
And certainly not a manager who had already proven himself—one who had won top-flight league titles and a Champions League crown.
If a club really would do that, then it wasn't much of a club to begin with.
And so—in the end, at Bayern's championship celebration in Munich following their German Cup triumph, Mandžukić was nowhere to be seen. He had already boarded a flight back to Croatia.
Bayern's CEO, Rummenigge, was far from pleased with Mandžukić's conduct. "He still has two years left on his contract with Bayern. If he wants to leave, he can have his agent come tell us so."
Of course, there was another matter at Bayern worth mentioning too, and it was quite something.
Bayern's president, Hoeneß, had resigned from every position he held at the club, stepping down as president once and for all.
And then—he went to prison to serve his sentence.
The reason for his imprisonment was tax evasion. He had been caught, had appealed the ruling repeatedly, and in the end had simply stopped fighting it and chosen to serve his time.
Hoeneß stated plainly that he would not be filing any further appeals—that he accepted full responsibility and was ready to begin serving his three-year, six-month sentence immediately, willing to make amends for the mistakes he'd made.
Of course, he wouldn't actually be spending anywhere near that long behind bars. Under German criminal law, an inmate who behaves well while incarcerated may apply for parole after serving as little as two-thirds or in some cases even half of the sentence.
Which meant that, at minimum, Hoeneß might only need to spend twenty-one months in prison.
On top of that, given his old age and the fact that his health wasn't especially good, the prison might well permit him to be released on day parole, spending his days outside and returning to serve his nights inside.
He'd likely be out again within a little over a year, at most.
Whatever else you said about Bayern, they certainly never lacked for drama.
As for Serie A—there's not much to say. Juventus dominated everything.
They'd completed a three-peat.
Roma and Napoli secured Champions League spots. Fiorentina and Inter advanced to the Europa League. The final Europa League ticket went to Parma, who beat Livorno at home; Torino, coming back from a draw, climbed to sixth; and AC Milan found themselves shut out of any European competition next season entirely.
As for La Liga, Now, this one was interesting.
Barça and Real Madrid's nine-year stranglehold over Spanish football had finally come to an end.
Atlético had become La Liga's new champion!
The last time a club outside Barça and Real Madrid had won the league title, you'd have to go all the way back to the 2003–04 season, when Valencia finished with 23 wins, 8 draws, and 7 losses for 77 points. Barça finished second, five points behind, while Real Madrid managed only 70 points, good for fourth.
Worth noting was that same season, Valencia had also knocked Real Madrid out of the Copa del Rey, and gone on to reach a European final of their own, though the trophy Benítez's side lifted that year was the UEFA Cup.
In the nine seasons since, Barcelona had first won back-to-back titles under Rijkaard.
Then Capello and Schuster had each led Real Madrid to a single title apiece.
In 2008, Guardiola took charge and led the club to three straight championships.
Then, in the 2011–12 season, Mourinho's Real Madrid won the title with a record-breaking 100 points.
Last season, under Vilanova, Barcelona had matched that same 100-point record Real Madrid once held, claiming the title with an identical tally.
Across those nine seasons, the club that came closest to breaking the duopoly was Sevilla in 2006–07—right up until the season's final round, Juande Ramos's side still had a genuine shot at the title.
In the end, with the title already out of reach, they lost their final match of the season.
They finished with 71 points, five behind champions Real Madrid though for Sevilla, that season could hardly be called a failure.
Missing out on the league title aside, they still walked away with the UEFA Super Cup, the UEFA Cup, and the Copa del Rey that year.
Alves and Adriano, both now with Barça, had been part of that very squad.
Atlético's form last season had already turned heads.
Through the first 13 rounds, they'd posted a stunning 11 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss, staying right on Barça's heels at the top of the table.
But as the season wore on, they'd ultimately fallen away, overtaken by Real Madrid and dropping to third—finishing with 23 wins, 7 draws, and 8 losses for 76 points, a full 24 points behind league leaders Barça.
But this season, Atlético—Los Colchoneros had stunned everyone, sustaining their surge in form all the way from start to finish.
Not only had they brought the two giants' nine-year monopoly to an end, they'd also reached the Champions League final!
Oh, right—
The reason Julien had chosen to bring his family to Lisbon, Portugal, for their vacation in the first place was precisely to watch this season's Champions League final.
It was happening tomorrow night.
Real Madrid would face Atlético Madrid at Estádio da Luz in Lisbon for this season's Champions League final!
That match, Julien remembered quite it vividly.
Atlético had held the upper hand for long stretches, and it looked, for a moment, as though they were about to lift their first-ever Champions League trophy. But at the very brink, Ramos had risen to the occasion, burying a thunderous header in the dying seconds of stoppage time to level the score.
He'd pulled Real Madrid back from the edge of the cliff.
The match went to extra time, and by then, Atlético's legs had totally given out, leaving them with nothing left to give.
They'd been crushed by Real Madrid.
Forced to watch as their crosstown rivals lifted the club's tenth Champions League trophy.
While they themselves, once again, walked away with nothing.
"What are you thinking about?"
Pauline's voice broke in suddenly, and Julien turned to find her looking at him with a warm, gentle smile.
Julien smiled back and said. "About this summer,"
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