It's Off To Europe We Go

Avid readers of my blog will know I mainly cover the Premier League. After all, it’s the greatest league in the world. However, there’s plenty of football that takes place outside of England which offers just as much drama and entertainment. I thought I’d do something a little different this week and venture across the English Channel to see what the main stories are in Europe’s other top 5 leagues.

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Italian Serie A

The main story in Italy must be Napoli. As of matchday 23, they’ve assembled a 15-point lead over second place Inter, having amassed an incredible 62 points out of 69 and are destined to win their first Scudetto since 1990. I’ve watched them a few times this season both domestically and in the Champions League; the level of performances they are producing week in, week out is phenomenal. The entire team has been first-class, but it’s their dynamic duo of Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the little Georgian wonderkid, that have caught my eye. Given the talent they let go, it will make their eventual triumph even more remarkable.

Besides Napoli, the race for top 4 is really heating up. Six points separate Inter in 2nd from Atalanta in 6th, with Milan, Lazio and Roma sandwiched in between. If it wasn’t for Juventus being deducted 15 points following an investigation into their past transfer dealings, they’d also be in the mix. It will be so close to call come the end of the season, as all the teams involved have shown glimpses of quality throughout the season but have also shown signs of inconsistency. It’s going to be the little moments that will decide who qualifies for the Champions League and I’m sure there will be more twists and turns along the way.

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Spanish La Liga

Over the summer, Barcelona seemingly mortgaged their future to get back to being competitive in La Liga. At least in the short-term, it looks like it’s working for them. They’re top of the table; eight points clear of Real Madrid. Such has been their impressive form domestically that they’ve only conceded 7 goals in 21 games and 1 goal conceded at home. No one has really been able to live with them and they’ve shown thus far that they have been a class above the rest.

Real Madrid haven’t really been at the races. Losing Casemiro may have had a bigger impact than people thought. Eduardo Camavinga has been played in quite a few positions and hasn’t been able to nail down that holding role. Aurélien Tchouaméni looks like a player but has had to deal with some nagging injuries. It may be that if they fall further behind in the league, they’ll shift their focus to defending their Champions League crown.

Aside from the big two, the only other story is Sevilla potentially involved in a relegation battle. They’re only 5 points above the drop zone, having played a game more than some of their rivals. Sevilla have got too many good players to go down, but if they don’t up their levels sooner rather than later, the kings of the Europa League may find themselves in the second tier of Spanish football come next year.

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German Bundesliga

We’ve been here before, but it looks like we may have a title race in Germany. For the longest time, Bayern have coasted to the title and dispatched their rivals with ease. This year, that trend may not continue. When you lose a striker like Robert Lewandowski, you would think the goals may dry up, but they’ve haven’t. They’re still averaging just shy of 3 goals a game! It’s the momentary lapses in concentration that have allowed their rivals to make things interesting.

It’s so tight at the top that there are five points separating first and sixth. Dortmund must sense they have a great chance of winning their first Bundesliga since 2012. It will come down to if they can keep this up to the end, as over the last few seasons, they along with other “pretenders” have fallen by the wayside as the business end of the season draws closer. Many will expect Bayern to pull away at some point, but I’m not convinced this is the same Bayern team of old.

Schalke are set to head straight back down after getting promoted. They are rock bottom, six points away from a relegation play-off place. It’s a shame as I remember watching them mix it with the big boys in Europe, but the pandemic and relegations two seasons ago really did a number on them. Who knows if they’ll get back to their best.

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French Ligue 1

It’s the status quo in France as PSG look set to their ninth title in eleven seasons. Despite their domestic dominance, something stinks over there. On the face of it, it looks like all things are rosy over in Paris. They’ve got a seven-point lead at the summit, and their star-studded big 3 of Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Lionel Messi have 61 goal contributions between them! Pre-World Cup, Neymar was playing some of the best football since his Barcelona days and Messi has now come back to PSG as a World Cup winner.

So, what’s the issue? Well, there’s always that question mark of whether PSG are a collective, or a team of individuals. You watch some games where specifically the front three are completely disinterested in defending from the front. Also, their defence & midfield aren’t quite up to scratch and have been found wanting in key matches this year. They’ll be fine in the league, but I don’t give them much hope in the Champions League.

A quick shoutout to Folarin Balogun, who on loan at Reims from Arsenal is the joint top scorer in France. It’s quite remarkable it wasn’t that long ago that he couldn’t buy a game for the Gunners and was struggling on loan at lowly Middlesbrough. What a story it would be if he could lead the league in scoring. He may end up having a future back at Arsenal.

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This Week’s Hot Take

If I could only watch one league outside of the Premier League, it would be Serie A. It’s super competitive, boasting 6 or 7 clubs of similar quality who are consistently fighting for the title or the European places. Serie A used to be a defensive league. Now, we see the attacking flair and quality that’s on offer. Coupled with the fact that no team has owners that have significantly more money to splash than others, it really helps to level out the playing field.