World Football's 8 Most Disappointing Sides This Season

For every winner there must be a loser, and for every pleasant surprise, there's usually also a disappointment.

World football is no different, and while there have been plenty of great stories across the world this season, there are also a bunch of disappointing teams.

Here are seven of the most disappointing. Their number includes big spenders, traditional powerhouses and star-studded underachievers.

Think you know who made the list? Keep reading to find out.

Villarreal

After last season's fourth-place finish in La Liga, Villarreal started the 2011-12 campaign in the Champions League facing the likes of Bayern Munich, Napoli and Manchester City.

After a poor start to the league season, Villarreal suffered another blow when star striker Giuseppe Rossi suffered a season-ending knee injury in October.

The Yellow Submarine finished the season in 18th position, one point adrift of safety, and their relegation was confirmed by a home loss to Valencia on the final day of the season.

Aston Villa

Until the most recent season, Aston Villa had generally finished in the top-half of the English Premier League table in recent years.

After an 11th-place finish in 2006-07, the Villans strung together three straight sixth-place finishes from 2008-10, qualifying for the Europa League in the latter two.

But after finishing ninth in 2010-11, Villa fell to 16th this past season under new manager Alex McLeish.

Dropping points was a problem, with Aston Villa racking up a league-high 17 draws despite losing the same number of matches as eighth-placed Liverpool. Villa finished with 38 points, only two above the relegation zone.

Had the season lasted any longer, Villa likely would have been relegated. As it was, McLeish lost his job anyway.

Athletic Bilbao

This will be a controversial selection, but for all of Athletic's impressive play this season, Marcelo Bielsa's team came away with no silverware.

As Manchester United discovered in the Europa League, Athletic can play attractive, flowing, seemingly irresistible offensive football.

But as cup final defeats to Atletico Madrid (Europa League) and Barcelona (Copa del Rey) showed, Athletic were, in reality, flatterers more than conquerors.

And, as their 10th-place league finish showed, Athletic didn't have the squad to compete on all fronts.

Over the course of the long season, Athletic promised much but failed to deliver when it counted.

Inter Milan

An awful league run early in the 2011-12 season saw Inter Milan dispense with two managers.

The Nerazzurri's third manager, 36-year-old Andrea Stramaccioni, righted the ship and led Inter to sixth place in the final Serie A table.

But sixth place won't bring Champions League football next season, and that's a big blow to a club of Inter's stature.

Los Angeles Galaxy

Major League Soccer's most glamorous roster belongs to the Los Angeles Galaxy, with big names like David Beckham, Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane featuring every week for the defending league champions.

But 13 games into the season, the Galaxy are last in MLS' Western Conference with 11 points.

Having lost four and drawn one of their last five matches, the Galaxy must turn around their fortunes soon or risk missing the playoffs.

Anzhi Makhachkala

Oh, Anzhi Makchachkala. All that money, and for what?

Fifth place in the Russian Premier League?

Not a good investment, if you ask me.

PSG

Like Anzhi Makhachkala, Paris Saint-Germain have spent wads of money to assemble a star-studded squad.

But like Anzhi, PSG failed to win the prize they were after this season.

Instead, light-spending Montpellier took the Ligue 1 title ahead of PSG.

Further investment will surely follow, but will results?

Liverpool

Originally, I forgot to include Liverpool in this list. That was a glaring omission: Despite winning the Carling Cup and advancing the the FA Cup final, Liverpool might have been the most disappointing side in Europe this past season.

After spending more than £100 million during the 2011 summer transfer window, expectations were high at Anfield.

But the Reds finished only eighth in the Premier League—behind city rivals Everton—while the squad experienced off-field troubles.

Manager Kenny Dalglish lost his job after the season, and now the team faces an uncertain future.

Follow @MikeCummings37