Have you ever been involved in a situation, and you wondered how you will pull through?, i ask again, have you ever woken up on a Monday morning, and the thought of what the day has for you hits your mind? And you fall back to your bed reminiscing about the days task. Eventually at the end of the day it turned out to be a day of celebration, A day to never forget, A day history was made. This is the story of these teams below, who became champions out of nothing. In the line of football, such occasions rarely happen, it comes once in a blue moon.
Stay with me, while i show you round the unexpected champions.
Leicester city, Premier league win
In 2015/ 2016 season of the premier league , New champions sprawl out of the blue to write their names in the history books. It took 36 games to be finally called champions, this was a team that finished 14th the previous season and 46 points behind the leaders Chelsea. This was a team priced at 5000/1 by bookmakers to Win the league. As the season progressed, they shifted from underdogs to titles contenders and then to a more solid side, ready to take any bull coming their way by the horn.
Premier league, is one well known to be won by the big boys, but it took the Foxes 36 games to win the trophy. In match day 36, it was Leicester city against Manchester United and a win would see them win the title but they were held to a 1-1 draw, Tottenham who were their closest opponent were to play Chelsea and a win would see them close the gap on the Foxes. After leading the blues 2 nil, Tottenham stumbled to a 2-2 draw, a result which put Leicester out of reach and they were confirmed league winners. Leicester city (foxes) became the premier league Unexpcted champion, leaving every one in disbelief, be coming the sixth team to have won the title.
Thanks to their Italian manager Claudio Ranieri, electrifying goal machine james vardy, the sweet legs of mahrez, the formidable mildfielfer in person of kante, center backs huth and Morgan, and the rest of the team,who led the Foxes to victory.
Champions league 2012
It was a cool Saturday evening in munich (Allianz Arena), A game you must not miss, everyone was already anticipating this day to come and here it was. It was another day for history to be made, the winners Chelsea went through thorns, bones and spears to get to this point. After being at the brink of getting elimated by Napoli in the knockout stage, pulling a cracking come back in the second leg and a nervy clash against Barcelona in the semi-finals, they earned their ticket to the 2012 champions league finals.
As the saying goes, "Destiny can be delayed, but it can never be changed". It was delayed in 2008, After missing out on a clear cut chance to lift the trophy against their fellow English side, Manchester United,it was all to fight for in munich, it was their second appearance in the competitions final. Bayern munich controlled the game and it was looking like the trophy wasn't going to leave the allianz arena when they took the lead in the 83 minutes through a well calculated header by Muller. But the blues were not to be put to sleep, and their equalizer came 5 minutes later when the big Ivorian Didier Drogba converted a Juan Mata Corner kick to head home the much deserving equalizer for their resilience, full time 1-1, extra time ended and it was to be settled in penalties.
Bayern missed twice from the spot kick. misses from Olic and mildfied icon schweinsteiger, Chelsea missed one out of their 5 penalties to become the unexpected champions.
Monaco wins ligue 1
After waiting for over a decade since they last won the ligue 1 title, it was time for a revolution, a title they last won in 1999/2000 season. This time topping the big spenders PSG, who has won it four times consecutively. In the 2016/2017 ligue 1season, it was time for coach leaonardo jardim men (As monaco) to lift the legue 1 title, and a 2 nil victory at home to saint-etinne made it sure that they were off the bar. Unlike Leicester city who won the premiere league with a team whose worth is about £23, Monaco had to do some spending, bringing it the likes of bejamin Mendy, Djibril sidibe e.t.c.
In the centre of the success was 18-years old kylian mbappe, who scored 26 goals and made 14 assist. before then, many pundits said "you can't be champions with kids" but it was not in the case of mbappe. Monaco youth system has been well known for producing young stars, Thierry Henry, came out from Monaco youth system also, and he went on to win the 1998 world cup. Another man to thank was the goal scoring machine Radamel falcoa, who hit the net 21 times. As Monaco took PSG unawares to become the Unexpected champion.
Birmingham city triumph
This day I can never forget, it was the carling cup final, Arsenal vs Birmingham city. And for my team Arsenal who last won a trophy since 2005, it was a great opportunity to end our trophy drought. On that day,27th February 2011,I was in my extramural classes, when i heard the shout of GOAL!!, it was like an electric shock in my spine. After my class, I came out to hear the painful news that Arsenal just lost the cup to Birmingham city, A last minute goal from obafemi Martins, who was brought in as a substitute in the 83rd minute, the Nigerian striker, won it for his team, thanks to a mix up between goal keeper Szczesny and centre back koscielny. Birmingham city who has not reached a competitive final for over 50 years came out of the blue to become an Unexpected champion, snatching the league one title from the gunners.
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