Happy endings for Kylian Mbappe and Bayer Leverkusen in cup finals
Toni Kroos waved goodbye to the Bernabeu and Olivier Giroud scored as he and manager Stefano Pioli said farewell to AC Milan.
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Your support makes all the difference.Kylian Mbappe celebrated his final Paris St Germain appearance by lifting the Coupe de France, while Bayer Leverkusen also clinched a domestic double by winning the German Cup.
France star Mbappe, who is expected to join Real Madrid on a free transfer this summer, enjoyed a triumphant farewell thanks to a 2-1 win over Lyon in Lille following first-half goals from Ousmane Dembele and Fabian Ruiz.
Luis Enrique’s Ligue 1 champions endured a nervy final 35 minutes after former Republic of Ireland Under-21 defender Jake O’Brien pulled one back but Mbappe – PSG’s record scorer with 256 goals – was not to be denied a memorable send-off.
Meanwhile, Bundesliga champions Leverkusen bounced back from Europa League heartbreak to beat Kaiserslautern 1-0 in the DFB-Pokal final following an early goal from Granit Xhaka.
The former Arsenal midfielder struck in the 14th minute before Xabi Alonso’s side hung on in the second half following the 44th-minute dismissal of defender Odilon Kossounou for a second booking.
Leverkusen’s successful trip to the Olympiastadion in Berlin came just three days after losing 3-0 to Atalanta in their European final in Dublin on the back of a remarkable unbeaten league season which ended Bayern Munich’s Bundesliga dominance.
Real Madrid’s preparations for next weekend’s Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund brought a goalless draw against Real Betis as Toni Kroos waved goodbye to the Santiago Bernabeu.
Carlo Ancelotti’s LaLiga champions struggled in front of goal during Kroos’ final match at their home ground after a decade at the club.
The Germany midfielder will retire from football following this summer’s European Championship in his homeland but could yet clinch the sixth Champions League title of his distinguished career against Dortmund at Wembley.
Fourth-placed Atletico Madrid ended the campaign with a fifth victory in six games by beating Real Sociedad 2-0.
Samuel Lino gave Diego Simeone’s side an early lead before Reinildo Mandava secured the three points in added time following Saul Niguez’s late dismissal.
Nico Williams’ second-half strike earned fifth-placed Athletic Bilbao a 1-0 win at Rayo Vallecano.
Luis Suarez and Sergio Arribas scored twice apiece as Almeria emphatically registered a first home win of the season by overturning a half-time deficit to thrash fellow relegated side Cadiz 6-1, while Osasuna and Villarreal drew 1-1.
In Italy, Stefano Pioli’s final game in charge of AC Milan was a thrilling 3-3 draw at home to relegated Salernitana.
Olivier Giroud bade farewell to the San Siro by acrobatically adding to Rafael Leao’s opener before Davide Calabria made it 3-1 after Simy had pulled one back.
But the Serie A runners-up were pegged back as goals in the final four minutes from Junior Sambia and Simy snatched a point for the division’s bottom club.
Quickfire goals from Federico Chiesa and Alex Sandro helped managerless Juventus end an underwhelming season with a 2-0 win over Monza.
Victory for the Turin club, who are reportedly set to appoint Thiago Motta to replace the sacked Massimiliano Allegri, was only a third in 17 league matches to snap a run of six successive draws.