Out of the top 20 football leagues in Europe, only two teams, who happen to be from the same division, are still undefeated this late in the season. Benfica and Porto, battling for the title in the Portuguese Primeira Liga, having gone 25 matches up to this point with a league loss.
In the title race, Benfica have the lead with 4 points, having drawn twice less than Porto have. However, on the next to final day of the season Porto host the league leaders, who also have to play in the Lisbon derby vs Sporting before they travel up north, in a match that might decide where the championship goes – a third consecutive time to Porto or Benfica winning their first since 2010.
In the previous match between the two, at the Estadio da Luz (January 13), the two teams ended the encounter in a 2-2 draw, with all four goals coming in the first 16 minutes. One of Porto’s six draws this season came against Sporting CP, and their hoping the local rivalry will be enough to give Sporting the morale boost to take away two points from Benfica, drawing only four times in 25 matches this season. They’re also still busy with the Europa League, which might turn out to be a factor.
Of the remaining 19 leagues that lead the UEFA Coefficients, there are two other teams and obvious eventual champions that have only one loss so far this season; Shakhtar Donetsk, the new ruling empire of Ukrainian football, and Olympiacos, eternal title holders in Greece.
With six matches left to go in the Ukrainian Premier League, Shakhtar already have a 17 point lead over Dnipro, needing one more point to secure the league title, having a goal difference that can’t be matched. Dynamo Kyiv, by the way, are only third, 22 points behind Shakhtar. For Donetsk, who made it to the Champions League knockout stage this season, it is the fourth consecutive league title and seventh in the past nine seasons.
In Greece, Olympiacos have already tied up their 40th league title – their third in a row and 15th in the past 17 seasons, currently holding a 15 point lead over PAOK, while Panathinaikos are only finishing at 7th place and 11-time champions, AEK Athens, are being relegated.