In Europe, Winners Have Street Cred

Thousands of fans took to the streets of Amsterdam; Turin, Italy, and Valencia, Spain, Sunday, just as their fellow fans had done in Dortmund, Germany, and Lyon, France, the day before.

They were celebrating championship victories by teams that waited until the waning days of the season to clinch their titles.

In Amsterdam, Ajax, featuring U.S. World Cup team midfielder John O’Brien, won its 28th Dutch championship and its first since 1998. Celebrations got so boisterous that police had to use tear gas and water cannons to clear some downtown streets. It was Ajax’s first championship under Coach Ronald Koeman, a former defender on the Dutch national team.

In Turin, black- and white-clad Juventus supporters celebrated the club’s improbable success in a season that had seemed to be going entirely Inter Milan’s way. But Inter, which could have clinched its first Serie A title since 1989, crashed to a 4-2 defeat against Lazio in Rome, while Juventus, which had started the day two points behind, shut out Udinese, 2-0, to win the “Scudetto” by a single point over last year’s winner, AS Roma. Inter finished third.

Oddly, Juventus was coached to its 26th championship by Marcello Lippi, who was fired by Inter at the beginning of last season. Inter Milan’s Argentine Coach Hector Cuper was left dazed by the setback, which once again deprived Brazil’s Ronaldo of a coveted Serie A title.

“It was terrible,” Cuper said. “We had the opportunity to bring joy to Inter fans. I am very, very sorry.”

In Spain, Valencia got goals from Argentina’s Roberto Ayala and Brazil’s Fabio Aurelio Sunday to defeat Malaga, 2-0, for its first Spanish championship since 1971.

Real Madrid, which desperately wanted the title in its centenary year, was knocked out of contention when it was held to a scoreless tie at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, whose south stands were left deserted when the radical Ultra Sur fans, who have a reputation for hooliganism, abandoned the stadium in protest of the arrest or four of their number.

There was trouble too at Villareal, where Real Zaragoza players had to flee to the locker room as irate fans invaded the field after the team lost, thus assuring itself of demotion to the second division for the first time in 24 years.

On Saturday, Borussia Dortmund clinched the Bundesliga title with a victory on the final day of the German season to finish just ahead of Bayer Leverkusen, which has never won the championship but has been runner-up in four of the last six seasons. German national team midfielder Michael Ballack did finish as the Bundesliga’s top goal scorer for Leverkusen, which still has two chances to salvage something. It plays Schalke 04 in the German Cup final on Saturday and Real Madrid in the European Champions League final on May 15 in Glasgow, Scotland.

Dortmund Coach Matthias Sammer also is chasing a double. Borussia will play Feyenoord of the Netherlands in the UEFA Cup final on Wednesday in Rotterdam.

For the first time in history, the French championship came down to the final day of the season with the last two contenders for the title--Olympique Lyon and RC Lens--facing each other. Lyon prevailed, 3-1, Saturday to end a 52-year quest for the championship.

Also Saturday, Arsenal shut out Chelsea, 2-0, on goals by Ray Parlour and Freddie Ljungberg to win the English F.A. Cup for the eighth time. In Scotland, Rangers rode two goals by Peter Lovenkrands, including one in the last minute, to edge Celtic, 3-2, and win the Scottish Cup.