As usual, in the beginning of each month we check the status of the biggest football leagues of Europe: German Bundesliga, Spanish La Liga, French Ligue 1, English Premier League and Italian Serie A. Some of you might wonder why we don’t write about the Swedish league (Allsvenskan). The reason for this is that the quality of the league is somewhat low and the best Swedish players are playing in the European Leagues. For example, our superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic is playing in Paris Saint Germain in the French league. Also, the Swedish league is not played at the same time as the other leagues. Allsvenskan ended about a month ago with Norrköping as champions. At Chicken Swedes, we do follow Swedish teams and player in Europe. The last two years we have had the pleasure of reporting from Malmö FF’s matches in Champions League. Anyway, below are reports from the domestic leagues of Europe:
Bundesliga
Nothing new here, really. As in our reports from October and November, Bayern Munich is in a clear lead at 40 points, followed by Dortmund at 32 points. For Bayern, this season is all about Champions League. Together with Barcelona, they are the team that have impressed most on us, especially when they defeated Arsenal 5-1. They will continue to defeat the opposition in Bundesliga and the question is not if, but with how many points they will win the league.
La Liga
Barcelona has the grip of the top position in La Liga after defeating Real Madrid in the first El Clásico of the season. With one match lesser played, they are at a comfortable 3 point lead before Real. Atlético Madrid is chasing one point behind their Madrid rivals.
Ligue 1
The French league is pretty much already decided with Paris SG at the top with a 15 point lead before Angers. As with Bayern Munich, the fans are expecting progress in Champions League this year.
Premier League
Premier League is a more open history this season. Before the season started, Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea was favourites but have had a miserable season so far. Instead, Leicester(!) is at the top after 15 rounds of play. However, only 3 points differ between team 1 and 4 (Leicester, Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United) and the league is a nail biter so far.
Serie A
Similar to Premier League, 4 points differ between the top four teams: Napoli, Inter, Fiorentina and Roma. Also, Juventus has awakened and is chasing the top four, one point behind.
The next report comes in 2016. Then we have a new year and the teams will have to focus on both the Round of 16 in Champions League as well as winning their weekly matches in the national leagues. A football season is a marathon and the teams that can endure the longest will win. Stay tuned as we continue to report from the best football leagues in the world.
