The European season has started out with some of the tightest competition we have seen in years. Contrary to last season, when the top 5 leagues had a clear favorite, and predictable champion; this season big teams are struggling to dominate their domestic leagues. Last year’s champs are having a hard time matching the results that had them on top of their respective leagues by this point in the season. FC Barcelona (2017/2018 Spanish Champion) is currently in 2nd place with a 4-3-1 record. Manchester City (2017/2018 English League Champion) is in a three way tie for 1st place with both Chelsea and Liverpool. In Germany last years champion Bayern is struggling in 6th place with a 4-1-2 record. Meanwhile, in both Italy and France usual champions Juventus and PSG, have both won all their domestic league games with records of 8-0, and 9-0 respectively.
Spanish Capitals Under Siege
Spain is home to the best football league in the world, at least in terms of the game’s quality, and the talent that they have. This is mostly attributed to the success of the two most recognized football clubs in the world, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. Both Spanish champs have collectively won 10 out of 20 champions league titles in 20 years. The Spanish league is known for the monopoly both these clubs have on the league title, with a few exceptions since the the start of the 21st century (Real Deportivo in 2000, Valencia in 2004, and Atletico Madrid in 2014). This year both Real and Barca have started the season on the wrong foot. Barcelona is struggling defensively and has not won a league match in four fixtures, and Real Madrid is having mayor struggles all over the field and are desperate to escape their current losing streak. Other clubs like Sevilla, and Atletico Madrid have taken advantage of the situation to keep the race for the Spanish League tight and competitive. However, if you are a Barcelona fan you shouldn’t worry to much, despite them not being able to keep a clean sheet and defense having trouble reaching top level; their offense is scoring plenty and as long as they fix the defense the team will surely be on top of the league by December. Meanwhile, I wouldn’t be too optimistic about Real Madrid, they too are having trouble in the back, but the difference is that Real cant seam to score, and that reflects that there are problems all over the field. This promises to be one of the most exiting seasons in Spain as both top two clubs are struggling, and smaller teams are finding ways to beat bigger clubs any week of the season.
The Premier League is back to being The Premier League
The English league has always been known for being the most competitive league in Europe. Historical underdog stories like Leicester City’s title glory in 2016 and Blackburn Rovers title in 95 has kept English giants humble, and made the Premier a highly competitive and anything is possible type of league. However, all that changed last season when a bald headed bad tempered genius secured 100 points in his teams league title season. Manchester City, was completely dominant over its competition, thanks to its world class roster, and world class manager Pep Guardiola. They broke the record, for the best result in English league history. Much of the excitement that the Premier league brings, comes from the fact that any club can beat any club any given match day. Despite, bigger clubs like Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Tottenham having an advantage in quality over other clubs in the English league. The overall quality and game style gives any team a shot at the title. However, the bigger clubs are getting bigger, and the competition is starting to heat up at the top. Both Chelsea and City have won titles in the last two seasons, and are both tied for first with Liverpool. Liverpool have been close to ending their Premier league curse in the last few seasons, securing a spot in the top 4 in the last couple of seasons. Tottenham as well have been close to winning the title, but have fallen just shy of the title in the last few seasons. Meanwhile, both Arsenal and Manchester United who were top of the league in 00′ are having a hard time rebuilding their respective teams, and bringing them back to their former glory. The English league will always surprise us and keep us at the edge of our seats, hopefully the dominance shown by City last year will not be a usual thing.
Tyranny in France, Italy and … Oh wait, what is going on in Germany?!!
All three of these nation’s domestic leagues complete the list of the top 5 European football leagues. Historically, all three leagues have competed and presented championship winning teams that have taken down both Spanish and English juggernauts. However, all three leagues struggle to keep up in terms of popularity and European success with the English and Spanish league teams, respectively. The French’s La Ligue 1 is the smallest of all top five leagues, and is dominated by Parisian club PSG. PSG is heads above any other French club, and is always favorite to win every year, with only Monaco to give them some competition, but they are nowhere near the Oil financed super team. In Italy, there is more competition and a higher quantity of top level clubs; teams like Inter Milan, AC Milan, Roma, Napoli, Juventus, and Lazio have historically kept the Calcio A competitive. However, since 2012 it has been dominated by only one team, Juventus. Juve has won the league title 7 years in arrow, and are not expected to stop their run of success any time soon, especially not this season after the arrival of CR7 and a 8-0 record to start the season. Meanwhile, in Germany a similar story has been going on with giant Bayern Munich. Bayern has won 7 league titles since 2010, including 6 in arrow in the last few season, this power house team is always favorite to win. However, the rest of the German League has had some great teams throughout the years, Wolfsburg, Borusia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Mochengladbach, Bayern Leverkusen, have kept the league competitive, and in years that Bayern have struggled they have taken advantage to make a run at the title. This year Bayern is having a hard time keeping up their usual dominance, with an ageing team and new manager at the helm they will have a hard time reaching top level. Meanwhile, Dortmund, and other German elite clubs are taking advantage an are leaving Bayern behind at 6th place. The question is will this last the whole season.
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