Japan midfielder Daichi Kamada reflected positively on his first season in Italy's Serie A after Lazio finished seventh and secured qualification for next season's Europa League.
The 27-year-old saw limited game time under the team's previous manager Maurizio Sarri but has been vital for Lazio since Igor Tudor took over on March 18, starting in all nine games in which the team lost just once, including a 1-1 home draw with Sassuolo to wrap the season up on Sunday.
"I managed to find a place where I can express myself at the end," said Kamada, who missed out on the Japan squad for the Asian Cup but won a recall to the Samurai Blue ahead of the World Cup qualifiers next month. "It's been a difficult season but there was lots to gain too."
Following his free transfer from Eintracht Frankfurt last summer, Kamada ended the season with two league goals after netting against last year's champions Napoli in September and the new champions Inter Milan in May in their penultimate game of the season.
"It's been a good experience and I've become more versatile as a player. I'm happy to have kept striving," he said.
In Denmark, up-and-coming attacker Yuito Suzuki missed out on the league title after Brondby suffered a shock 3-2 defeat at home against AGF to drop to second and hand the championship to Midtjylland by a point.
"The result is everything. Not managing to grind out the win is down to our weakness and we still have some way to go," said the 22-year-old, who had a stellar season in which he scored nine goals.
Suzuki, who had a brief spell in France at Strasbourg last season, has also been called up to the Japan squad for the qualifiers as he is set to miss out on the Paris Olympics with Brondby unwilling to release the player outside FIFA's scheduled international match windows.
"I've been trying to focus on my club until the league finishes. I'm honestly not thinking about the national team yet," he said.
In Portugal, Hidemasa Morita came off during the first half as Sporting Lisbon lost 2-1 to Porto after extra time and missed out on the league and cup double.
