The curtain falls on a dramatic 12 months across the footballing world.
Pep Guardiola's once formidable Manchester City side were crowned kings of England yet again in May but they finish 2024 in sixth - 14 points adrift of the leaders Liverpool.
It was another Champions League trophy for Real Madrid in what was a successful summer for Spain after their national side also lifted the Euro 2024 trophy.
And that came at the expense of England, who suffered heartbreak in the final for the second European tournament in a row. Sir Gareth Southgate is out; Thomas Tuchel the man now aiming to end the years of hurt - although that's one for 2026.
But what will 2025 deliver? Our football team give us their predictions...
A trophy-laden year for Liverpool
Jake Osgathorpe
Liverpool will finish the season with multiple trophies.
It’s not an overly big reach on my part, with the Reds well clear at the top of the Premier League, top of the Champions League table and into the semi-final of the Carabao Cup, but the way which they are going about their business has them clearly as the best team in this country, perhaps in Europe.
- Sky Bet: Liverpool to win Premier League, FA Cup, Carabao Cup & Champions League is 66/1
- Sky Bet: Liverpool to win the Premier League, Carabao Cup & Champions League is 14/1
- Sky Bet: Liverpool to win the Premier League & Champions League is 5/1
- Sky Bet: Liverpool to win the Premier League & Carabao Cup is 9/4
With Chelsea stumbling and Arsenal missing Bukayo Saka, it’s not inconceivable that the Reds have the title wrapped up early, allowing them to focus all their attentions on the Champions League and FA Cup.
And who knows, they may already have the Carabao in the trophy cabinet again too, facing a porous Spurs in the semis.
Atleti end wait for European glory
Joe Townsend
The new Champions League format certainly adds some intrigue when the competition returns in 2025.
The top eight in the league phase progress automatically to the round of 16, with those below down to 24th contesting an additional two-legged play-off.
Atletico Madrid may be sat in 11th but the congested nature of the Champions League standings means that they only trail third-placed Arsenal by a point.
Plenty to play for then and 2025 may well be the year which finally delivers them Europe's top club trophy.
Diego Simeone's side are the in-form team across Europe as victory at Barcelona took their run of consecutive wins in all competitions to 12. It also ensured they entered the winter break top of La Liga.
Confidence is high and they can finally capitalise on that in this competition.
Kone can conquer third tier
Jimmy 'The Punt' Cantrill
Sky Bet League One’s top goalscorer race has been thrown wide open by Aston Villa’s decision to recall winger Louie Barry.
The soon to be former Stockport loanee will top the charts in the third tier at the turn of the year with 15 goals. Obviously, his ability to add to the tally will be massively impeded if he is loaned to a Championship club for the second half of the campaign, which is expected to be the case.
Birmingham’s Jay Stansfield and Wycombe’s Richard Kone are amongst the chasing pack both on 12.
Next is Peterborough’s Kwame Poku (10) but the winger is expected to miss a chunk of the season with an injury. Below him is Mansfield’s Will Evans (9), Reading’s Sam Smith (8) and then a cluster of players on seven.
Therefore, it is essentially a two horse race and my money is on the people's champion Kone.
The Chairboys have scored the most in the division by some distance and talisman Kone has netted twice as many as any other player in their squad.
The frontman has three braces, including a hat-trick against Peterborough, and should push Stansfield all the way.
International joy for Germany
Tom Carnduff
I'm fully aware that international football is not the most popular outside of tournament years but 2025 does deliver us the finals of the latest edition of the Nations League.
The quarter-finals take place in March with the finals in June and Germany can overcome disappointment at their home Euro 2024 by lifting the trophy in Munich.
They will have home advantage should they progress and they've been very impressive under Julian Nagelsmann's guidance. The three home games in this competition delivered wins of 1-0 against the Netherlands, 5-0 over Hungary and 7-0 against Bosnia and Herzegovina. They were unbeaten away.
They're up against an Italy side over two legs in March and they were beaten by France, Spain and Switzerland in 2024 - winning just four of their previous nine across all competitions.
Denmark or Portugal would await in the semi-finals and it's certainly the preferable side of the bracket to be on.
Odds correct at 1200 GMT (31/12/24)
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