Europe’s domestic fare so predictable
Club football played second fiddle to the World Cup in 2018, which was probably just as well given its utter predictability.
Four of the five major European domestic leagues, which concentrate nearly all the top players and most of the sport’s wealth, turned into one-horse races in the latest demonstration of the growing gulf between the biggest clubs and the rest. Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City wrapped up the English Premier League with five games left, eventually amassing a record 100 points to finish 19 points clear.
The many records they set in the process included the most consecutive Premier League wins (18), the most goals scored (106), the best goal difference (79) and the most passes in a Premier League game (902).
There was no denying the quality of football, arguably the best ever played in the Premier League. In Spain, Barcelona won La Liga for the third time in four seasons with a 14-point advantage and 99 goals scored, with one defeat all season.
There were no surprises in Germany, either, where Bayern Munich notched a sixth straight Bundesliga title after recalling Jupp Heynckes for his fourth stint as coach, or in France, where Paris St Germain made it five titles out of the last six.
In yet another lopsided contest, the Qatari-owned French club amassed 93 points from 38 games, 13 more than secondplaced AS Monaco. What should have been the game of the season, when they hosted the principality team, turned into a 7-1 rout.
The exception was Serie A where Napoli pushed Juventus all the way but there was still a sense of inevitability that the Turin side would win a seventh title in a row, which they did.
The Champions League produced some memorable ties in the knockout stages but ended in familiar fashion with Real Madrid winning the trophy for the fourth time in fifth seasons, beating Liverpool 3-1 in the final in Kiev.
Real’s celebrations were short-lived as coach Zinedine Zidane resigned and Cristiano Ronaldo left for Juventus, having scored a club record 451 goals and won 16 trophies in nine seasons. Zidane’s replacement Julen Lopetegui lasted three months before being fired for Santiago Solari.
Lopetegui’s appointment made him Real’s 20th coach since 1996, while Arsenal had one during the same period.
Arsene Wenger’s remarkable 22-year spell with the Gunners finally ended, though not in the way the Frenchman would have wanted with his team missing out on this season’s Champions League after finishing sixth.
Another major coaching move saw ex-Chelsea, Real Madrid, Paris St Germain and Bayern Munich manager Carlo Ancelotti return to Italy after a nine-year absence to coach Napoli.
Luiz Felipe Scolari, Brazil coach when they won their fifth World Cup in 2002 and also in charge of the side humiliated 71 by Germany at the finals on home soil in 2014, led Palmeiras to the Brazilian title at the age of 70.
Palmeiras, seventh when ‘Big Phil’ took over in July and eight points off the lead, won 16 of their next 22 league matches and drew six, conceding just nine goals to triumph with a game to spare.