After PSG won a Champions League and Tottenham ended their trophy drought, what men’s teams are still cursed?

On a confetti-decorated field in Bilbao, Spain, Tottenham Hotspur midfielder James Maddison thought about what he described as a “Special” seasonBut he was not only talking about his team in the moments after they had reached the UEFA Europa League. In addition to Spurs, Maddison Crystal Palace, Bologna and even Harry Kane from Bayern Munich has won, all wins titles after long wait.

Dit was het seizoen van gebroken vloeken in heel Europa, met Spurs die een wachttijd van 17 jaar beëindigde om zilverwerk op te heffen, Bologna won hun eerste Coppa Italia in 51 jaar, Newcastle United brak een 56-jarige trofee droogte met de EFL Cup, Kane won de eerste titel van zijn carrière met de Bundesliga en Palace die hun eerste trofee heft, hun eerste trofee die de FA Cup won. Paris Saint-Germain even joined the ranks with their blowout victory in the UEFA Champions League final of Saturday and won Europe’s top club prize for the first time after years of failing. The results of this “special” season were inherently entertaining because it broke with different patterns on the continent, where some large titles were potted over the years by a handful of teams.

The weight of expectations, however, is not based on anyone, and although the title winners of this season may no longer feel the gravity on their shoulders, other teams reluctantly inherit that busy. Next season, the responsibility to break trophy drugs will be the responsibility of a large number of new teams throughout Europe, a group that is suddenly cursed themselves.

The following teams ended up in Currse watch for various reasons, although the basis of their accident is their inherent quality. Cursed teams are those who are out of luck to be in the middle of a trophy -dried, but can also be the makers of their accident to a certain extent, only contribute to the misery of their circumstances. Not every team with a trophy -dried is inherently cursed – Palace and Bologna were not those two instead instead of falling short in recent years. The cursed are those who are constantly in the conversation, but cannot happen to the finish, the fine line of hope and despair if one trophy after the other misses.

The trophy drugs may not be as dramatic as those who are broken this season, but the story of a curse is starting to become inevitable to these teams – and that also applies to winning titles. Here is a look at some teams that landed on Curse Watch for next season.

AC Milan

Trophy drought: 3 years

AC Milan won series perhaps three years ago, but one of the historical giants in Europe has since fallen short – and in many categories. They came close to winning titles during that piece and finished second in the Serie A at the end of the 2023-24 campaign, but were clearly the second best, and ended 19 points behind Rivals Inter. This season, however, they fell to eighth place and felt by two managers and wasted the chance to win silverware by losing Bologna in the final of Coppa Italia. The fact that the Supercoppa Italiana from 2025 is their only trophy during this period, although they are entertained in a Come-From-Behind victory over Inter, this was a truncated competition that was only two knock-out competitions instead of a demonstration of seasonal excellence.

In the past two seasons they have not made much of a dent in the Champions League, left in the group phase in the 2023-24 season and are eliminated by Feynoord in the knockout phase Playoffs this campaign. They will not play in the European competition next season, the first time since the 2019-2020 season, what a real need to turn the course, or the punching bag in Italy will be indicated if they cannot find out how they can turn around quickly enough.

Ajax

Trophy drought: 3 years

You will notice a theme here that starts to appear here – a curse is not only determined by the length of the drought of the trophy, but also wasted the size of the chances, and Ajax has really remained in recent years. The most successful team in the Netherlands has not been able to compete with PSV and Feyenoord in recent years and just when it seemed as if they were going to turn around this season, they even threw it away. They had a nine point ahead of PSV with seven games to go in the Eredivisie, but Ajax won only three of their last seven and offered their rivals a perfect opportunity to catch up by winning their last matches. The team based in Amsterdam also had one of their worst Eredivisie seasons the previous year when they finished fifth, left in the second round of the KNVB Cup and the group stage of the Europa League.

Atletico Madrid

Trophy drought: 4 years

If a team is cursed forever, it is Atletico Madrid. For the past 12 years they have been lucky to win a few La Liga titles and a Copa del Rey, but those are out for a team that has long resigned to play the third best behind Real Madrid and Barcelona. The curse is unfortunately their heritage, even during the current Diego Simeone era that the team has seen several times above their weight.

Their record in Europe Stings, in third place for most matches played in the Champions League without lifting the title. Some of the most determining moments of their recent history include two trips to the Champions League final, first on the wrong side of a crooked victory in 2014 and then in a nailbiter who went to penalties in 2016. Both times and, unfortunately, they lost the same thing in another occasion this season. They were beaten from the Champions League round of 16 in a penalty shootout against an impressive version of their rivals, defined by the Spotkick of Julian Alvarez who was disqualified for the rare double touch.

Arsenal

Trophy drought: 5 years

Much of the term of office of Mikel Arteta who is in charge of Arsenal about mapping an upward route, in which the manager successfully brings them from heavyweight to title candidate since he took the lead in December 2019. He has one FA Cup title, three second place Premier League finish and a semifinal finish in the Champions in the Champion. Their last four run in Europe, against a PSG team with which they went toe-tot-toe, despite losing 3-1, it almost disguises that Arsenal did not change the story this season, but truthfully it only increases the pressure on Arteta and his group next season.

They will wring their hands about injuries that have hindered their progress this season, but after three rival clubs in London have won large titles this season, it makes their shortcomings more striking. Not only have they been able to benefit from the downward turn of Manchester City in the Premier League this season this season, they first rank in a Unideal category – most games played in the Champions League without winning the title. They may have had bad luck, but it is up to the Gunners to actually get things in the coming campaign.

Different

Trophy drought: 7 years

Few count on different adhesive to win large silverware, but the most successful team in Belgium has now gone for seven years without winning titles, domestic or otherwise. They belong to the higher ranked teams in Belgium, but have recently not made much of a dent in a competition, even for the first time in 56 years during that piece for the first time in the European competition abuse. They will have to settle for a place in the next UEFA Conference League campaign, but have three qualifying rounds to continue if they want to reach the competition phase, which may be easier said than done.