We know that things can happen, but it looks like that Barcelona in the Spanish La Liga, Juventus in the Italian Serie A and Bayern Munich in the German Bundesliga are well on their way to be crowned champions, and we’re barely at the half way line of the season.
Out of the Euopre’s top 5 leagues, things are still very much undetermined in two of them. The English Premier League looks to be providing us with another one-city title race between Manchester United and Manchester City. At the moment, United have a four point lead after 18 matches, although things can change fast during the Christmas period.
In France, where Paris Saint-Germain were supposed to stroll towards their first title under the new and very rich regime, things are a tad more complicated. PSG do lead the league thanks go goal difference, with 38 points after 19 matches. Both Lyon and Marseille have 38 points, and at the moment, look like they’re going to be hanging with the Parisians for the entire season. PSG won both matches against their title rivals, but have to visit both teams in the second half of the season.
The rest of the big leagues? Looks like a done deal. In Italy, well, it was expected. Juventus did lose a match to Inter, but no other team is as deep enough to handle the injuries and problems of a full season. Juventus were the only side in Italy to dive into the transfer market this summer, as the financial crisis was felt with about every club that usually has higher aspiration. Lazio are 8 points away, Fiorentina and Inter are 9. Milan? 17 points away, Napoli 10. Roma are also in the vicinity of a Champions League spot, but it looks like it’s a chase for the second and third places only, while the first is reserved for Juve for the second straight time. Last season it was much harder.
In Germany, Bayern are running away with it, similar to how Dortmund did two seasons ago. Bayern have dropped only nine points through the first 17 matches, heading into the winter break with a nine point lead over Bayer Leverkusen. The only team Bayern do fear are Dortmund, but the champions are having some difficulty sharing their focus between the Champions League (more important to them this year) and keeping up with the leaders in the league, and have fallen 13 points behind Bayern.
In Spain, it’s just as closed. Atletico Madrid are nine points behind Barcelona, but it’s hard to believe Atletico are going to usurp the Real-Barca streak that’s been going on for 8 consecutive seasons. They’ve lost to both teams in matches that weren’t even close, and while Real Madrid are 16 points behind Barcelona, 7 behind their city rivals, it’s hard to believe they’ll finish the season below second place. The title? Not going to happen. Just thinking about needing to win five more matches than Barcelona over the next 20 seems highly unreasonable, and unless something happens to Lionel Messi, it’s a done deal.