As we near the end of the EPL, Serie A, La liga and Bundesliga seasons, it seems fair to say that it has been by far the most entertaining year of competitive football in quite a while - not only in the respective domestic leagues but also in Europe.
With all due respect to the legions of die-hard fans, it has to be said that for the last three to four seasons in a row, seeing Manchester united win the EPL and Inter Milan top Serie A has become kind of boring. The German Bundesliga and the French ligue 1 as of last season have at least seen new champions in Wolfsburg and Bordeaux, in stark contrast to the regulars; Bayern Munich and Lyon. Such change and shift of power among Europe's top clubs makes the respective competitions more exciting to watch. I am well aware of the fact that all of Europe's leading clubs have worked very hard and have shown great character to remain at the top of their domestic leagues and win the champions league simultaneously. Everyone, from the players and the coach to the management and the fans have exhibited immense perseverance and support to achieve such remarkable feats, namely Manchester United winning the double (champions league and the EPL) in 2008 and Inter dominating Serie A over 4 seasons. However, I feel its safe to say that such domination by a handful of clubs is not all good for European football as it creates a sense of reinforcing monopoly which can kill the sport's competitive spirit, that we all relish. Also, rival fans get increasingly disappointed and lose faith in the clubs they love and support. Arsenal fans, for example seem quite frustrated now with their drought of titles thus piling the pressure on Arsene Wenger. Moreover the way Barcelona outclassed them in the quarters was yet another dagger in the gunner's hearts. As yet another barren season comes to an end, Arsenal fans might wonder when their patience and loyalty finally converts into titles. For those who are new to the game and derive pride from supporting teams they don't know much about, fruitless seasons may compel them to lose interest in the sport and this is definitely not good for football. Dwindling fan support is hence a major negative.
The point to be noticed here is that all said and done, a particular club cannot be blamed for achieving profound success if it has been achieved fairly and they truly deserved it. Manchester United in 2008, may have won the champions league final, but it was a slip from John Terry whilst taking the penalty, which if he had scored, would have granted Chelsea their first Champions league title that at the time they truly deserved based on their second half performance(Chelsea hit the post twice) and given that they had beaten United a week ago in the premier league. Being a Chelsea supporter myself, i know how the thousands of blues fans round the globe would have felt and that night I, and I'm sure many will agree that Chelsea were the true winners. However, that was hopelessly unfortunate and no one is to blame. But what happened to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in last year's semis was just not done. The tie should surely have been won by Chelsea- they played a rock solid defense with 8 backs set up intelligently by their then intellectual interim manager Guus Hiddink and they succeeded defying all odds defying all odds. This, for me is strategic excellence. No team, before this could stop Barca at the Nou camp, so they settled for a draw and they scored in London. This was simply brilliant and they should have gone through but alas, it was not to be. Poor refereeing and shocking decisions from Tom Henning Ovrebo including several dismissed penalty claims and failure to spot a clear hand ball in the box cost the blues dearly. Such terrible refereeing must never be tolerated as it can destroy the morale of a team and hamper the loyalty of the fans towards the governing authorities. After watching that match I felt cheated and angry unlike the feeling of sadness I experienced after the 2008 final.
This season has proved to be one with surprising results, entertaining performances and unlikely slip ups. In Europe, who would have expected big spending Real Madrid to be knocked out by a lowly Lyon side or Chelsea to lose ground against Inter? The same goes with mighty Juventus and Liverpool. The latter failing to even make the knockout stages. Only one club seems to be making consistent progress in all competitions for two years in a row- FC Barcelona. Their performances all season have been outstanding and with Argentine wizard Lionel Messi in their arsenal, they seem invincible, even more dangerous than last year. Scoring 40 goals this season in all competitions, Messi is undoubtedly the undisputed best in the world and I strongly feel Barca will become the first club to regain the champions league trophy and create history.
Coming back to the core of the article, the reasons I said this season was different better than multiple others are as follows:
1. In Serie A, after 4 years of seeing Inter lift the trophy, the title race is split wide open and Roma or Milan could just as well win it since they are just 1 and 4 points behind the leaders respectively, each with a game in hand. In previous seasons, Inter used to lead with an 8 or 9 point gap at the top, months before the season closure and the Serie A title race used to end in an uncompetitive stalemate for the rest of the year. This season has been comparatively better for Italian football with Inter Milan carrying the Italian flag in the semis. Also, Fiorentina showcased a brave performance against Bayern, but were unlucky not to win courtesy of the away goal rule.
2. After 3 years of living in the shadow of Manchester United, Chelsea are finally playing to their optimum level. Abramovich's large investments seem to be returning dividends yet again as Chelsea find themselves top of the EPL with a 4 point lead over United with just less than a dozen games pending. Also, their recent victory against Aston Villa put them in position for completing an amazing double by winning the FA cup as well, thus rejuvenating English football.
3. In Spain, Barcelona looked unstoppable when they ripped Real apart at home and are on course to a second straight triple this season. The important point here is that Barca have made a mockery of Real's big summer expenditure on play makers Ronaldo and Kaka who were expected to lead the Madrid giants to European and Spanish glory- They have achieved neither. It will thus be interesting to see how Real react to this miserable year next season.
4. In the German Bundesliga, Bayern seem to be emerging yet again. But it has been no easy ride for the Bavarians over 2 seasons- They finished second to Wolfsburg last year and just managed to survive the quarter-finals of the champions league this year after almost losing out to Fiorentina and Manchester United respectively. However the fighting spirit of this Bayern side has to be recognized and I consider them genuine contenders for Europe's elite trophy this year. Back home in Germany, they have yet again bounced back to pole position in the domestic league after dropping multiple points and conceding ground to Leverkusen who led the table for long periods and are enjoying their best season in several years. Luis Van Gaal's job is surely no cakewalk as he looks to lead Bayern to European glory while they keep up in the Bundesliga.
5. Olympic Lyon provided the upset of the season when they eliminated mighty Real Madrid, following their victory against local Ligue 1 rivals and reigning champions Girondins Bordeaux not only in Europe but also in the French division. Lyon look strong and could give a resilient Bayern side a run for their money.
6. Coming back to the premier league, Manchester City look to be on their way to next seasons Champions league after claiming the crucial fourth place and final champions league birth which formerly belonged to Liverpool. The reds are nearing the end of a disastrous season with only the Europa League to look forward to. City's inclusion in next seasons champions league could see them investing in some big money transfers in the summer window to strengthen their squad, especially the defense but first they have to overthrow a decent and stubborn Spurs side who are desperate for some attention.
7. This year's champions league boasts of a good confluence of clubs representing different nations as opposed to English domination in the past few years which makes it all the more interesting due to the rare blend.
Although this season has had its share of controversy, the positives clearly cancel out the negatives and it has been very entertaining to watch. My predictions for the season:
1. Barca for the champions league and the La Liga.
2. Chelsea for the premiership and Manchester City for fourth place (Since I believe Spurs are inconsistent)
3. Roma could overrun Inter in the Italian Serie A which will go down to the wire with AC Milan joining the fray.
4. Bayern Munich for the Bundesliga and Lyon for the Ligue 1 championship.
