Europe’s top football leagues are awash with asterisks

RELEASE the ticker tape, crank up Blue Moon and fetch Pep Guardiola’s dancing shoes: Manchester City are Premier League champions again for the fifth time in six years and the seventh time in a decade.

With FA Cup and Champions League final appearances to come before the season is out, there is every chance that they win the treble and take their tally of major trophies to 17 since Abu Dhabi bought the club in 2008. But should there be an asterisk next to those achievements?

It’s shortly after that time, according to the Premier League, that City began aiding their collection of world class players and coaches such as Guardiola by systematically inflating their income and misleading top-flight chiefs about it. The club, who have faced sim- ilar allegations from European governing body Uefa during the same period, have denied any attempt to cheat and described the claims as a deliberate smear. Legal experts have predicted that it could be years before their Premier League case is resolved.

Meanwhile in Spain, Barcelona are celebrating the first significant honours of what they hope will be a new era of glory under one of Guardiola’s disciples, Xavi Hernandez. Last week fans partied late into the night in the Catalan capital after Barca ended a four-year wait for another LaLiga crown. That the club has been forced to deny trying to bribe officials after being found to have paid a former referee more than £6m, and remains under investigation over the controversy, has not dampened the celebrations.

Close To The Wind

Across the Mediterranean in Italy, the most successful Serie A club of the 21st century, Juventus, are in the thick of another scandal. The Bianconeri are expected to find out on Monday whether they will have points deducted for fiddling their accounts, a decision that is likely to determine whether they play in the Champions League next season. The probe has also cost their former sporting director Fabio Paratici his job at Tottenham Hotspur, while Juve could yet face further sanctions over a separate charge of paying players off the books. And in France, PSG are bound for another Ligue 1 title just months after they settled for a £56m fine, the vast majority of it suspended, from Uefa for breaking financial fair play rules. They have won 20 major trophies in the 12 years since they were acquired by Qatar Sports Investments, during which they have become one of the most high-profile and star-studded clubs in the world but have twice been fined by Uefa for overspending.

It is worth remembering that, of the above allegations, only those against PSG were uncovered by the football authorities. The claims about Manchester City emerged from hacked material dispersed in the Football Leaks files. Key evidence in Juve’s trials came from wire taps and raids ordered by local prosecutors. And Barcelona’s referee row came to light as a result of a tax investigation. Which is to say that, yes, there is an asterisk next to City’s titles until their investigation is resolved. As there are next to some of Barcelona’s, Juve’s and PSG’s, to varying degrees. And these are the few that we know about, mostly by accident, from only the top European leagues. Some of the biggest clubs sail close to the wind and the storm surrounding City is far from an isolated one.

YOU’D have been forgiven if, by the 12th minute of Saturday’s Champions Cup final between Leinster and La Rochelle, you’d turned over to Garden Rescue or Midsomer Murders because the match looked all but done and dusted.

A brace from Dan Sheehan and a third try from Jimmy O’Brien gave Irish province Leinster a 17-0 lead in Dublin against the reigning champions.

But in the subsequent 68 minutes the team who were only promoted to the French top flight in 2014 inched their way back into it and, astonishingly, won.

La Rochelle’s 27-26 victory will go down as one of the all time great European finals – up there with Leicester’s win over Stade Francais in 2001 and Leinster’s 2011 triumph over Northampton Saints.

It was Munsterman Ronan O’Gara –now La Rochelle coach – versus his old rivals Leinster, it was in a hostile Dublin cauldron, it was the biggest ever comeback in a European final and, most symbolically, it ended and birthed eras.

Leinster have been a dominant force in Europe for decades, winning four titles – only Toulouse have won more, with five. They breeze through the early stages of both their domestic URC league and the Champions Cup with ease.

But for the second successive year, thanks to La Rochelle, the Irish juggernauts finish their year with nothing.

In a mirror image of last season, Leinster lost their domestic semi-final having rested players to ensure they’re fit for the subsequent European final. And for the second time it hasn’t been enough.

Departing is senior coach Stuart Lancaster – whose career has been resurrected by the Dubliners after a torrid World Cup with England in 2015 – and retiring is captain Johnny Sexton who, although injured, managed to leave his mark on the final with a reportedly cantankerous monologue to referee Jaco Peyper after the final whistle. That opening 12 minutes was perfect from Leinster – about as good rugby as you’d find anywhere – except from the two missed kicks by Sexton’s stand-in Ross Byrne.

And looking at the final score, the Dubliners could have done with their