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After 90-year wait, tiny Union can seal Belgian title on final weekend for European soccer leagues

Maybe this is the year that Union Saint-Gilloise finally wins the Belgian league title. It’s been a 90-year wait.

The small club in Brussels loved by the city’s international community takes a one-point lead into the final round Sunday after near misses in the past three seasons — their first in the top tier since 1973.

“The fact that we are in this position is the reward for the hard work that has been going on here for years,” Union’s 37-year-old coach Sébastien Pocognoli said Friday, in comments reported by Belgian daily Het Nieuwsblad.

Elsewhere, league titles in Austria, Croatia, Hungary and Poland will be decided this weekend before the European club season peaks with the Champions League final.

Union's time has come?

Twice, in 2022 and 2024, Union led the regular season standings then faded in the championship playoffs to let Club Brugge take the title.

The epic 2023 title race had a dramatic ending when a helicopter carrying league officials and the trophy had to turn away from Union’s tiny Joseph Marien Stadium.

Three teams separately held the lead in the in-play standings in the closing minutes — including Union in the 89th — before Royal Antwerp seized the title in stoppage time.

Only Union and Brugge are in contention Sunday when both have home games. Union hosts Gent and Brugge plays Antwerp.

Union will seal its first title since 1935 with a win. A tie on points sends the title to Brugge on a tiebreaker of higher position in the regular season.

Union had a slow start under new coach Pocognoli, after more sales of star players for eight-figure fees. Led by goals from Promise David, Union moved up to third in the regular standings.

This time, Genk was the leader that collapsed in the playoffs. Union surged with a run of five clean sheets including a 1-0 win at Brugge on April 24 to go top for the first time.

“We have everything in our own hands, that is the reality,” said Pocognoli, who won a Dutch league title with AZ Alkmaar when coached by Louis van Gaal.

Salzburg's slump

The decline of Salzburg seems more than a one-season blip, even if the team is heading to the FIFA Club World Cup next month.

A 10-year run of Austrian Bundesliga titles ended last year, finishing runner-up, and Salzburg is fourth entering the final round. Qualifying rounds for the third-tier Conference League beckon.

"The way we’ve performed this season, we probably have no place in the Champions League,” Salzburg coach Thomas Letsch acknowledged.

Letsch arrived in midseason to replace Pep Lijnders, an assistant to Jürgen Klopp at Liverpool, who lasted just a few months and oversaw a series of Champions League losses. Salzburg finished 34th in the 36-team league and Sturm Graz was 30th.

Sturm enters the final Bundesliga round Saturday three points clear, needing a draw at home to third-placed Wolfsberg to retain its title.

Austria Vienna in second hosts last-place Linz and will win the title on head-to-head tiebreakers if points are tied. It could be a three-way tie if Wolfsberg beats Sturm.

Can Poznan do it in Poland?

To this generation of fans, Lech Poznan is best known for a unique celebration that was adopted by Manchester City supporters after their Europa League games in 2010.

Doing “The Poznan” means fans turn their backs to the field, link arms and jump up and down in unison. It has never been done in the Champions League by Lech fans. Maybe next season.

Lech goes into the final round with a one-point lead over Rakow Czestochowa, the 104-year-old club which won its first title in 2023.

On Saturday evening, Lech hosts mid-table Piast Gliwice and Rakow hosts Widzew Lodz. If they finish tied on points, Rakow wins on head-to-head record.

Keane in Hungary

Ferencvaros coach Robbie Keane's team needs only a draw to clinch the Hungarian title, after he took over the club in January.

Ferencvaros’s final game is Saturday evening at ETO Gyor, when second-place Puskas Akademia hosts Diosgyor.

Seeking a seventh straight title, Ferencvaros can miss out only with a loss and a win for Puskas, which would take the title on a tiebreaker of most games won. Puskas is from the tiny village of Felcsút that has close ties to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Dinamo's drive

Entering May, Dinamo Zagreb was third in the Croatian standings and had just fired coach Fabio Cannavaro, the Italian 2006 World Cup-winning captain. Somehow, Dinamo kicks off the final games Sunday on top of a three-way race.

Dinamo has beaten both title rivals, Hajduk Split then Rijeka, this month ahead of hosting fourth-placed Varaždin under interim coach Sandro Perković.

Rijeka could have sealed the title last weekend but lost 2-1 at Hajduk, whose coach Gennaro Gattuso – another 2006 World Cup winner – says he will leave.

Rijeka, which is tied on points with Dinamo, hosts Slaven Belupo. Hajduk is two points back and goes to relegated Šibenik. If all three contenders finish on 63 points, Gattuso’s Hajduk will be champion.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

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