With the leagues in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain now surging around the final turn, we'll take our jog through their title grandstands for a quick look at the races.

We gained our first 2011/12 champ when Borussia Dortmund sealed a Bundesliga repeat last weekend, and the rest will follow by how close they are to crowning the kings.

#5 - Too Short? Or Poised To Pounce?

Defending champions Lille will surely be the former if they cannot beat second place Paris Saint-Germain at home this weekend.

If they do take the points, the former could come within reach soon. Seven points off the top in third, the holders are the only Ligue 1 club that will play both PSG and leaders Montpellier over the final five rounds.

Their weekend visitors will want to be extra careful before halftime. Lille have won five of their last six, scoring nine times pre-intermission in that span.

Perhaps soon to be out the door to a glamour side, star man Eden Hazard has been the least likely to waste time of late. Reversing his season trend for hitting late, the Belgium winger has five first half strikes in the previous eight games.

#4 - Revenge of the Old Lady

Juventus has not won a piece of silver they weren't forced to return since 2003. That dire streak is close to an end, with the Bianconeri three points clear of champs AC Milan with four to play.

Six straight wins have propelled the only unbeaten in Italy back to the top. Juventus have topped the table five times and 21 weeks out of 34.

Amazingly, the Old Lady has only led at halftime in 13 of their games and they were behind in five. It's been their 38-8 second half margin that has done the trick.

As such, it's little surprise that top guns Alessandro Matri and Claudio Marchiso have struck 15 of their combined 19 tallies after the break. Meanwhile, the trio of Simone Pepe, Arturo Vidal and Mirko Vucinic - each of whom have six on the season so far - have 14 of Juve's 20 first half goals.

#3 - Sprinting Through The Tape

Anyone who's spent good time following Ajax in recent years knows they close strong. Often times, it has been too little and too late, but the Amsterdammers regained the crown last season with a closing day win over FC Twente.

Thanks to 11 straight Eredivisie victories, they can again clinch the title with a win over the Tukkers - only this time, a couple rounds earlier.
The writing has been on the wall since winter, when Ajax were behind double digits to nearby AZ and missing starters left and right.

All but healthy now, Ajax haven't just cobbled together a win streak. They've smashed all comers, taking those 11 matches by a 37-4 combined count.

The injuries spells have helped spread the goals around even more than usual. Done for the season, Miralem Sulejmani shares the team's top output of 11 with Siem de Jong. Beyond them, there are no less than seven players with at least six on the league season.

#2 - Things Just Got Real

Oh, I know many people were stunned when Real Madrid pulled off a victory at Nou Camp to move seven points up on the summit with four games left.
Regular readers of this humble column, however, were informed in February that the title race was done. Perhaps more people need to pay attention when we explain that The Special One does not blow titles.

With both also unceremoniously knocked out of the Champions League semifinals, the dramatic air has been let out of Spain's soccer balloon. Even if Barcelona win out, Real can clinch with a pair of wins.

Next up is a visit from Sevilla, who have lost six straight the Galacticos by a 19-6 count. Barring help from the archrivals Catalans, though, Real will then likely clinch away against either Europa League finalists Athletic Bilbao or surprise survivors Granada.

#1 - First to the finish!

Borussia Dortmund may have sewn up their second straight title, but we can still walk the tracks to see how they got there.

In addition to a league-high 13 home wins, BvB have done great business away. Seven of their eight-point advantage on second place Bayern Munich comes via Germany's best road record (8-2-4).

Dortmund were extra stingy in the first half, allowing just six goals against 29 scored to date. However, despite leaking 17 goals after the break, that relative generosity was well covered by an amazing 42 second half goals.

After dropping three of their first six games, the champs went unbeaten the rest of the way. Only once to now have they gone as many as two consecutive games with draws.

While they only led after a single round before February, Dortmund held it from there on out. And for that, we send congrats.