Chelsea Loan Round-Up: Kalas promoted, Van Ginkel crowned Champion, Christensen secures European football; others

ENGLAND:

The biggest news for our loan army in England came from Tomas Kalas and Middlesbrough, who managed a 1-1 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion and thus secured promotion to the Premier League after seven years in the English second tier. Kalas amassed 30 appearances in all competitions, playing a total of 2,207 minutes, but was only on the bench for their promotion-clinching game.

Photo by Nigel Roddis/Getty Images

Nathan Ake was an unused substitute for Watford against Liverpool, with manager Quique Sanchez Flores trying out various permutations and combinations in his back line. Ake spoke to WD Sport before the game, and will be disappointed to miss out on a call-up to the senior Dutch side, especially after Manchester United's Timothy Fosu-Mensah got the nod.

Norwich manager, Alex Neil, threw on both Patrick Bamford and Dieumerci Mbokani in an attempt to salvage something out of their eventual 0-1 loss to Manchester United but neither could produce anything to the desired effect. With this loss, the Canaries inched closer to relegation and it is imperative that they win their remaining two fixtures to stand any chance of retaining their status as a Premier League club.

Victor Moses started for West Ham and was taken off in the 59th minute; the Hammers found themselves losing 3-0 to Swansea inside 50 minutes, ended up losing the game 4-1, and saw their Champions League hopes fade away.

John Swift, who has had an impressive first season in professional football, capped his year (and Brentford's victory) with the final goal of the Bees' 5-1 rout of Huddersfield Town, coming on as an 82nd-minute substitute. Brentford finished the season in 9th place. Swift is out of contract in the summer, and his future is shrouded in mystery at the moment.

Jordan Houghton was absent for Plymouth Argyle, as they finished the regular season with a 5-0 thumping of Hartlepool United. Plymouth will now try and secure promotion to League One via play-offs.

GERMANY:

Papy Djilobodji started Werder Bremen's goalless draw against FC Koln. Going into the final gameweek, Werder now sit two points ahead of VfB Stuttgart, in 16th place. While a draw against Eintracht Frankfurt would mean that they'd have to win a two-legged play-off against the third placed side from the 2. Bundesliga to stay in the top flight, a win would guarantee them safety. With a loss, however, things could get tricky; Stuttgart play Wolfsburg, and a Stuttgart win coupled with a Bremen loss could mean automatic relegation for the latter. They have all to play for on the final day of the Bundesliga!

Photo by Mika Volkmann/Bongarts/Getty Images

Andreas Christensen and Borussia Monchengladbach came back from a goal down to clinch an emphatic 2-1 victory over Bayer Leverkusen at Borussia Park, with the in-form Andre Hahn scoring twice. Christensen, as he has been all season, was a rock in defence and helped his side subdue third-placed Bayer. With a three-point lead in addition to a goal differential of 11, Gladbach have all but secured European football for next season. Finishing in fourth place, they'd have to progress to the group stage of the Champions League via the qualification round. Should they lose there, they'd secure a place in the Europa League group stage. Hopefully, it won't come to that and we'll see young Christensen square off against quality opposition in the Champions League next season as well.

Photo by Sascha Steinbach/Bongarts/Getty Images

SPAIN:

Christian Atsu continued to play his impact substitute role with Malaga, as a 62nd minute replacement in their midweek 3-1 victory against Levante, which saw their opponents relegated. He then started in what turned out to be a 1-0 loss to high-flying Celta Vigo, and completed his first 90 minutes for his loan club. Speaking to Marca, Atsu claimed that he was very happy at Malaga, following two disastrous loan spells in the Premier League.

Charly Musonda started for Real Betis against Eibar and was taken off with a minute left to play, the game ending in a 1-1 draw. Watch this space for the usual touch-by-touch video, which I'll embed as soon as it is available.

THE NETHERLANDS:

PSV were crowned Champions of the Eredivisie after a dramatic turn of events on the final day. Marco van Ginkel played the full 90 of the deciding 3-1 win over PEC Zwolle (as Ajax were somehow held to a 1-1 draw by De Graafschap).

Vitesse Arnhem, meanwhile, closed out their campaign with a 2-2 draw against FC Twente. Lewis Baker and Izzy Brown were both late substitutes, while Dominic Solanke and Nathan missed out due to injury. Vitesse have had a terrible second half of the season, and the club announced immediately after the game that manager Rob Maas would be let go. Vitesse finished the season in 9th place, one spot above Todd Kane's NEC Nijmegen. Kane, of course, is at Cobham, in rehabilitation following his ACL tear.

FRANCE:

Jeremie Boga was brought on at half-time but couldn't prevent Rennes from crumbling to a 2-0 loss against Montpellier.

Mario Pasalic is back in training at Cobham following his back injury, and missed Lyon's 6-1 thrashing of his side, AS Monaco. Monaco have now fallen three points behind Lyon and sit in third place, with Nice only two points behind them.

ITALY:

Already crowned Champions, Juventus suffered a 2-1 loss to Hellas Verona. Juan Cuadrado played the whole game.

With Napoli looking to finish second and avoid a play-off round for Champions League qualification, there have been no recent minutes for Nathaniel Chalobah. While a win on the final day would guarantee them second place, a draw on the final day should also do for the Naples side, provided AS Roma do not win their fixture by a goal difference of more than three.

Stipe Perica was an unused substitute for Udinese.

SCANDINAVIA:

Jamal Blackman kept his second clean sheet of the season in a 1-0 win against Kalmar FF, while Alex Davey missed out for Stabaek due to injury.

TURKEY:

Marko Marin was missing in action for Trabzonspor against Caykur Riezspor.

Kenneth Omeruo and Kasimpasa take on Konyaspor on Monday night. Watch this space for any updates!

OTHERS:

Victorien Angban and Crisitna Cuevas, both played the full 90 as STVV lost 0-3 to Sporting de Charleroi.

Wallace was out injured and missed Gremio's exit from the Copa Libertadores at the hands of Rosaria Central.