The final day of the English Premier League season kicked off on Sunday with Wigan, managed by former player Roberto Martinez, and Blackpool in the drop zone on 39 points each [EPA]
Published On 22 May 201122 May 2011
Just above them were Birmingham City, pictured, Wolves and Blackburn. Any two of the five could have gone down, with Wigan playing at Stoke, Blackpool at Man Utd, Wolves hosting Blackburn and Birmingham at Spurs [GALLO/GETTY]
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Wigan performed a surprise escape act as they beat Stoke 1-0 away and other results went in their favour. Wolves lost 3-2 at home to Blackburn but both stayed up [GALLO/GETTY]
Blackpool went in the lead at Manchester United but lost 4-2 to confirm their relegation at the home of the champions [GALLO/GETTY]
Birmingham went from League Cup winners earlier in the year to relegation as they lost at Tottenham [GALLO/GETTY]
West Ham are already down after going 2-0 up at Wigan the week before, only to lose 3-2 to this Charles N(***)Zogbia strike in the 94th minute [GALLO/GETTY]
If relegation isn(***)t bad enough, Almeria had it rubbed in by Cristiano Ronaldo and co as Real Madrid beat Spain(***)s bottom club 8-1 on the last day of the season [EPA]
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David Trezeguet settled in well at Hercules after 10 years with Juventus but his goals weren(***)t enough to stop the Alicante club finishing second from bottom [GALLO/GETTY]
But the big shock was the last-day demotion of Deportivo la Coruna, the 2000 La Liga champions who had spent 20 years in the top flight, also tasting the European Champions League semi-finals in 2004 [AFP]
Bari were far and away the worst team in Italy(***)s Serie A, with two home wins all season witnessed by rows of empty seats [EPA]
Cesena fans throw some mild taunts in the direction of relegated Brescia as they bid for the win that would keep them up in May. They got it [GALLO/GETTY]
Angelo Palombo reacts as Sampdoria, who finished fourth in Serie A in 2009/10, lose to Palermo to confirm their relegation to Serie B [GALLO/GETTY]
Arles have had a dreadful season in the French Ligue 1, accumulating just 20 points and three wins with one game to play [EPA]
Lens have spent just two seasons in Ligue 1 since their brief stay in the second tier and may have a long wait to repeat their Champions League exploits of the last decade after being relegated again [EPA]
