The international break is almost over and all the teams are hoping that there players will return healthy back to their training grounds. So, it is time to take a look at the major European Football Competitions and see how things are going there!

Is there still suspense and does it already look if the title race already has been decided?

Let’s have a look at the Premier League, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, La Liga and the Serie A!
I will try to rank them from the most predictable to the ones full of surprises and scenarios!

I will start with the most competition where the suspense has dropped a lot!

Serie A

In the serie A it is hard to remember who did win the last title which wasn’t won by Juventus! Do you know who and when?

For this we have to go back to the season 2010-2011, in which AC Milan took the title!

8 round out of 38 are played and Juventus already has a lead of 6 points! So, maybe it is already safe that Juventus will win again the Serie A!

Just like last season it looks that Napoli will be or the first losers or the best of the rest!

The gap between the leader and the first team outside the European spots is already 11 points!

The gap between the leader and the last in the table is already 25 points!

At the bottom here things are looking impossible for Chievo (-1 points) and Frosinone (1 point). Looks like both teams are already have sealed their faith and will be playing in Serie B next season.

The question here is who will join them! The candidates are Empoli, Atalanta, Bologna and Udinese!

If Juventus will keep on wining, the only suspense will be who will qualify for the Champions League or Europa League. Inter and Napoli are the biggest favorites for 2 of the 3 remaining Champions League spots!

It is no surprise that Juventus will win the next title, but they didn't buy Ronaldo to do this. They did buy Ronaldo to win the Champions League!

Suspense: 25%

Why? It looks like the champion already has been decided and that 2 out of the 3 relegation spots also already can be filled in. The suspense is only for the European spots and the last relegation spot!

Ligue 1

9 rounds already played of the in total 38 rounds.

The suspense for the tittle is already gone with PSG leading the pack with a lead of already 8 points! 9 games played, 9 games win, 32 goals scored and only conceded 6! Just like Juventus in the Serie A, PSG has a perfect record! Scoring on average 3,5 goals per game, there is just making fun of their opponents!
Just like Juventus all the bought players are bought to finally reach at least the semis of the Champions League! Curious what will happen with PSG when the money dries up again!

The gap between the leader and the first team outside the European spots is already 12 points!

The gap between the leader and the last in the table is already 22 points!

Lille is the best of the rest at the moment with 19 points, with a 3 point lead over Marseille and Montpellier!

At the bottom of the table there is a gap (4 points) between the 3 bottoms teams and the teams standing on a safe place.

What is really surprising is that Monaco is one of these 3 teams. Only won 1 game and a negative goal ratio of -4.

Thierry Henry will take over the role of head coach at the club where he did sign his first professional contract! But is he capable of turning the tide?

Nantes and Guingamp will face a tough challenge to stay in Ligue 1! I doubt it that we will see them in here next season.

Suspense: 45%

Why? Just like in the Serie A, the champions already can be filled in, but there is a big peloton fighting for the remaining European spots. Also the situation of Monaco adds some suspense to the competition!

So 3 competitions remaining with the Premier League, the Bundesliga and La Liga!

Bundesliga


Normally we could easily say that Bayern Munich would be crowned the champions but not this year! We have to go back to the season 2011-2012 to have a different champions than Bayern Munich. Dortmund became the champion!

After a great start, Bayern only collected 1 point out of the last 3 games, dropping them to the 6th place!

The leader in the Bundesliga at the moment is Dortmund, which is the only team that didn’t lose this season in the Bundesliga. But it is still a long road, 7 of the 34 rounds have been played.

I do consider that there are, based on the current standings, the top 6 teams still have a shot at the title.

The gap between the leader and the first team outside the European spots is already 7 points!

The gap between the leader and the last in the table is only 12 points!

At the bottom there is only a 3 point difference between the last place and number 10 in the table. So lots of teams who will face a though season!

So still a great competition with lots of possible scenarios!

Suspense: 90%!

Why? While Dortmund has a 3 point lead lots of scenarios are still possible. Also no real relegation candidates based on the current standings!

Premier League

Only 8 of the 28 round have been played. Still early but we can already draw some conclusions!

The top 5 teams are only spread apart by 2 points! Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool are sharing the lead with 20 points. All 3 teams still have to lose their first game of the season!

City has the lead due to a better goal difference +18, followed by Chelsea with +13 and Liverpool is third with +12.

Arsenal and Tottenham both have 18 points! A close competition for sure!

The tittle hopes are already gone for Manchester United. They are already 7 points behind. They will even have an immense task to end on a European spot!

For me personally it is no surprise to see City and Liverpool at the top, but I didn’t expect Chelsea there! So, lots of traditional club at the top of the table.

The gap between the leader and the first team outside the European spots is only 4 points!

The gap between the leader and the last in the table is 18 points!

At the bottom the battle is also fierce. I do think that the 3 relegation places at the end of the season will be for one of these teams: Cardiff (return ticket), Newcastle, Huddersfield, Fulham (also return ticket) or Southampton!

Still a very interesting competition. Too early to tell who will lift the trophy at the end of the season!

Suspense: 90%

Why? A little bit more suspense than in the Bundesliga! But with the usual suspects! A little bit less than the most interesting competition at the moment. At the top still a lot is possible, at the bottom a gap is shown between the last 5 teams and the others!

La Liga

Well according to me, based on the current standings the most interesting competition so far this season!

Both Barcelona and Real Madrid are dropping points and the start of Atletico Madrid also wasn’t a dream start!

Barcelona hasn’t won their last 4 games, and Real Madrid didn’t win in their last 3 games! What were the odds for this?

After 8 rounds, Real already lost twice, Barcelona and Atletico once. The proud leader at the moment currently is Sevilla, with 16 points!

It will be interesting to see how long Sevilla can stay on top of the league! If Real Madrid will be capable of improving during the season! And if Barcelona can have a revival!

The gap between the leader and the first team outside the European spots is only 4 points!

The gap between the leader and the last in the table is 11 points!

Also at the bottom, there is a gap of only 2 points between last and number 17! But 2 of these teams do have a game less. Still no teams who are already doomed to a lost season and are having real relegation danger!

Suspense: 95%!

Why? The suspense here is higher for me than in the Premier League because not one of the 3 big clubs is leading the table which does give it an extra dimension! Besides that the relegation fight involves a little more teams than in the Premier League!

What is your judgement about the excitement in the European Domestic Competitions?

Cheers,
Peter