Bayern clinches league in style
BAYERN Munich’s 1-0 success at Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday wrapped up the Bavarian giants’ 23rd German title in record time.
BAYERN Munich’s 1-0 success at Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday wrapped up the Bavarian giants’ 23rd German title in record time, and highlighted a curious phenomenon in Europe’s top leagues this season.
Bayern’s championship success came as they opened up a 20point lead over the now-deposed champions, Borussia Dortmund, with just six games left to play.
While the Bavarians’ dominance of their domestic league is unusually pronounced, they are not alone in such feats. Manchester United lead bitter city rivals Manchester City, themselves the reigning champions, by a staggering 15 points, while Barcelona have a 13-point advantage over Real Madrid, who are also the Spanish title-holders.
Even in Italy this trend is not entirely bucked as Juventus hold a 12-point advantage over Napoli, although the Old Lady of Turin are champions and started the season as favourites, while their chasers also have a game in hand.
Such statistics suggest these top European leagues have become as uncompetitive as the Rangers-less Scottish league, but in fact even Celtic’s points-pergame ratio pales in comparison with the continent’s big boys.
Although 15 points clear in their league, Celtic have a 2.09 ratio, which is nowhere near Bayern’s 2.68 points per game.
Barcelona are only just behind on 2.60 with United on 2.57. Barcelona’s ratio is only just behind the record that Real Madrid managed when earning 100 points last season at a rate of 2.63, while United’s surpasses the 95 points Chelsea gleaned in 2004-05 at a rate of 2.50. As for Bayern, they would need to suffer a remarkable end-of-season collapse to fail to beat Dortmund’s 81point marker from last season.
Neutral fans may lament the lack of competitiveness, but while domestic leagues have turned into processions, it is a very different story in the Champions League.
Barcelona had to fight back from a 2-0 first-leg deficit to get past AC Milan in the last 16, while Bayern squeezed past Arsenal on away goals after losing 2-0 at home. At the same time, Real Madrid were knocking out Manchester United and Dortmund were cruising past Ukraine champions Shakhtar Donetsk.
A look at league tables would suggest Barca, United and Bayern are head and shoulders above the rest, but the Champions League has proved their domestic bridesmaids are just as good. Real even beat Barca in back-to-back matches before dispatching United from Europe’s premier club competition. The reason for such domestic dominance is hence unclear.
United did add Robin van Persie and Japan’s Shinji Kagawa to their squad in the summer, while Man City’s acquisitions were less significant, but that would hardly explain the big turnaround in fortunes. According to Everton centre-back Sylvain Distin, it is down to United finding a consistency other English teams cannot match. “They are not the most attractive or impressive team but they are reliably effective,” he told L’Equipe.
Similarly, in Spain, neither Barca nor Real Madrid made any earth-shattering signings in the close season. But, according to Real Sociedad boss Philippe Montanier, Barca have rediscovered something they had lost last season.
Only in Germany has there been a big swing in player strength with Dortmund losing Kagawa, while Bayern added Brazil centre-back Dante, Spanish midfielder Javier Martinez and Croatian forward Mario Manszukic. In Italy, there is a similarly gaping difference in the standard of players, which could be a prominent factor in Juve’s superiority. But with a ratio of 2.29 points per game, Juve are hardly in record-breaking form. What has helped them this season have been the losses incurred by the Milan teams. AC Milan sold their best two players, while also letting many experienced veterans leave. Inter, too, have been rebuilding and have lost most of the players who won the Champions League in 2009.
It thus remains a mystery what exactly has prompted such runaway leaders in the top leagues, but neutral fans across Europe will be hoping this season is nothing but an anomaly and that next year they will be thrilled by nailbiting finishes to the domestic campaigns. Sapa-AFP