As 2019 draws to a close, it's been a truly remarkable calendar year of football. Liverpool end it as league-leaders after the heartache of narrowly missing out on last season's title. The Premier League has offered up plenty of sub-plots along the way, and that's without taking into account the wild ride of the 2018/19 Champions League later stages. The New Year has a lot to live up to if it is to provide anything like the scenes we've witnessed since January. GIVEMESPORT looks back at an extraordinary 12 months. 

Maurizio Sarri vs Kepa 

It was hard not to feel for Maurizio Sarri during the Carabao Cup final back in February. Kepa completely undermined his authority by refusing to come off at Wembley with the game going to penalties.

Willy Caballero might have done a better job in the shootout too, as Man City were crowned League Cup champions yet again. 

Liverpool got 97 points and still didn’t win the title

Liverpool barely put a foot wrong in 2018/19, but draws with Leicester and West Ham and a ball that didn't cross the line by 11 millimetres against Manchester City meant they finished the season with 97 points - one fewer than City and the most any team has ever gathered without becoming champions. Of all people, it was Vincent Kompany who effectively sealed it for Pep Guardiola's side with a screamer against Leicester.

The best Champions League semi-finals ever

The madness began with Messi scoring an inch-perfect free-kick against Liverpool. However, it was the second legs where the Champions League semi-finals really came to life. Liverpool came back from the dead by beating Barcelona 4-0 at Anfield on one of their great European nights. 

A day later, just when we thought we'd seen it all, Lucas Moura scored a hat-trick to send Tottenham to the final, his final goal against Ajax coming with the last kick of the 95th minute as they fought back from 3-0 down on aggregate in the second half. 

The club's first ever Champions League final ended in tears, of course, with Liverpool lifting the trophy for the sixth time. 

Man City winning, losing and drawing vs Spurs all at once

It's perhaps overlooked because of those semi-finals but the finale of Spurs' quarter-final was almost as crazy. Manchester City won the second leg 4-3, drawing 4-4 on aggregate and losing on away goals - got that? Raheem Sterling's last-minute goal sent the Etihad into raptures before it was ruled out by VAR. 

Pep Guardiola's meltdown at Anfield 

There has undoubtedly been a power shift between City and Liverpool this season and nothing emphasised it more than the Reds' 3-1 victory at Anfield earlier this season.

Guardiola raged at a number of decisions, feeling City could have had two penalties and made his feelings known by sarcastically thanking the officials and spending much of the second half screaming into the sky. 

Southampton 0-9 Leicester

The Saints equalled an unwanted Premier League record by slumping to a 9-0 defeat to Leicester at St Mary's. It also proved another sign that Leicester were back to their very best under Brendan Rodgers. 

Mauricio Pochettino sacked...

With Spurs 14th, Daniel Levy wielded the axe just months after Mauricio Pochettino had guided the club to a first European Cup final in their history. In his final six weeks, the north Londoners were beaten 7-2 at home by Bayern Munich, lost 3-0 to Brighton, and then failed to beat Sheffield United in his last game. 

...And replaced with Jose Mourinho under 12 hours later

To make matters more surreal, by 6.30am the next morning, Jose Mourinho was in charge despite having promised he would never manage Spurs. The Portuguese has inspired a mini-revival but his arrival is yet to really have the desired effect. Will he be the man to finally end a 12-year trophy drought in 2020?

Lionel Messi's 50 goals

The Argentine's record sixth Ballon d'Or caused some contention on Merseyside as he beat Virgil van
Dijk to the most coveted individual award in football.

At 32, Messi shows no signs of slowing down and recently scored his 50th goal in the calendar year - it's the ninth time he's achieved that particular feat in 10 seasons. 

The Women’s World Cup reaches new heights

A global audience of over 414 million watched at least a minute of the Women's World Cup in France this summer. There is still work to be done but the USA's victory over the Netherlands gave many of their players, particularly Megan Rapinoe, a new platform to speak about gender equality in the game. 

Wayne Rooney signs for Derby 

Rooney has obviously been in demise for quite some time. Many expected him to retire rather than drop down a level but after leaving DC United, he signed for Derby County as a player-coach. 

Duncan Ferguson's love of the double substitution 

Duncan Ferguson was a huge success and remained unbeaten in his interim spell in the top job at Goodison Park. The Scotsman did raise eyebrows by taking teenager Moise Kean off against Manchester United, just minutes after he'd brought him on.

Then, against Arsenal, he repeated the 'sub-sub' with Cenk Tosun. Brutal. 

Everton appoint Carlo Ancelotti

The Toffees might well have had good cause to appoint Ferguson on a permanent basis. Instead, they pulled off a huge coup by bringing in the former AC Milan and Chelsea boss. Finally, a manager who's won the Premier League on Merseyside...

Arsenal spending £137m and getting even worse 

The Gunners looked all set for a fine season when they signed Nicolas Pepe for a club record £72m. The trouble is, they neglected their defence once again and have spent the campaign in crisis, sacking Unai Emery and somehow deteriorating to an even further nadir under Freddie Ljungberg. 

Rebekah Vardy vs Coleen Rooney

Let's be honest - none of the above has set the adrenaline quite like the undisputed greatest moment of the year. It's... Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney's Twitter spat after the latter accused her fellow WAG of selling stories about her to the newspapers.

It's been a wild ride - here's hoping 2020 will bring more unforgettable moments.