At least they are not as bad as Ligue 1

3 months from now Europe’s top 5 domestic soccer leagues will all have winners, some of whom were not expected to be in the thick of it come March. Starting in Italy, the 1st tier of soccer, the Serie A. Currently, the Serie A is headed by Inter Milan with 66 points and Juventus 9 points behind having played an extra game. This does not come as a surprise to many after Inter made it all the way to the Champions League final, only losing to Manchester City by 1 goal. However, it must be noted that last year’s winners Napoli are far off their form from last year, only having 37 points at this point in the season, after totaling 90 at the end of the 22-23 campaign. It seems all too likely that Inter will win the title this season and even possibly make another deep run in the Champions League after a 1-0 victory over Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their tie.

Xabi for Chancellor 

Xabi is a very popular name in Spain, but not so much in Germany, until recently I suppose. The name Xabi Alonso has been on the lips of every German soccer fan this season, and for good reason. If you support anyone other than Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga, it is fair to say that you have not seen the good side of the Bundesliga since at least 2012. That is because 2012 was the last time Bayern managed to lose the title. Yes, for 11 straight years, Munich has won the Bundesliga, in a somewhat depressing manner at this point. Multiple teams have challenged the German giants over the 11 years such as Borussia Dortmund last year or RB Leipzig in the 2018 season. However, through those 11 years, Bayern have never had a competitor as serious as Bayer Leverkusen have been this season. Now, back to Xabi Alonso, the current manager of Leverkusen, who has taken this side to new heights that were not even conceivable by the biggest Leverkusen fans at the beginning of the campaign. Currently, Alonso’s team sits atop the summit, 10 points ahead of 2nd place Bayern Munich, and even if I wasn’t a betting man, I would take Leverkusen to win the Bundesliga title for the 2023-24 season. 

4 in a row or 4 in a year? 

Over to the English Premier League, commonly regarded as the most entertaining domestic soccer league in the world. Though the talent on display is head and shoulders above the majority of other leagues, the gap between sides is still enormous. Manchester City has won the past 3 titles with relative ease. In comparison to the German Bundesliga this may not seem like much, but considering the Prem has a plethora of teams in the past 3 years that have played and competed for major trophies such as the Champions League it shows that Manchester City’s current dominance is almost unheard of. However, many fans hope that this year, the name engraved on the Premier League winners trophy will not say Manchester City. As of now, this hope is not going away, while Liverpool currently sits top of the table, City sits just one point behind in second place, followed by Arsenal one point off City in third. Up to this point, this is the closest title race the Prem has seen in years. Liverpool play City this coming weekend but after that, their schedule cools down in terms of difficulty. Although the Reds have what seems to be the easiest remaining schedule of the three, injuries have and will continue to plague their hopes of a quadruple this season or even the title. Having already secured one trophy in Jurgen Klopp’s final season, all Liverpool fans are optimistic but it will not be an easy feat. Manchester City tends to enjoy playing a cat-and-mouse game of sorts where they act like they are not going to be the same team they were last season, only for them to go on a winning streak the rest of the season and secure the title. This season looks no different, now that City are back to full strength after returning Kevin De Brune and Erling Haaland from injury there seems to not be much in their way. Arsenal just put together an impressive performance albeit against 20th-placed Sheffield United with a -50 goal differential. For now, they look like they can make the leap from last season and go the distance, however, this team is still so inexperienced in comparison to Liverpool and City that I just don’t see a way they overtake both teams. The title essentially all hangs on this coming weekend, and the training that takes place before it. If Liverpool can get Mo Salah back on the pitch and have a fit Darwin Nunez alongside Luis Diaz, they will have a chance at goal. However, it will also be imperative for the Reds to either have Trent Alexander-Arnold back fit or another stellar performance from the young Northern Ireland native Connor Bradley when he goes up against City’s Doku on Sunday. If Liverpool can manage a draw or a win at Anfield, I see them going all the way to the title, but if City manage a win, I see it improbable that they falter the rest of the season. 

If you think they are good this year… just wait. 

Who would have thought, that adding one of if not the best midfield players in the world to a team with Vini Jr. Luka Modric, Toni Kross, David Alaba, and a couple of other World Cup and Champions League winners would make for a good squad? The answer is literally EVERYONE.  Now that Barcelona has essentially committed multiple financial crimes and is unable to pay their players, Real Madrid has no real competitors other than Atlético Madrid and Antoine Griezmann. As funny as it is to watch Los Blancos win La Liga for fun, it makes every fan of a Champions League team slightly worried. This is because, in a couple of months, it is more than likely that Kylian Mbappé will end up in the famous white jerseys of Real Madrid. Once this happens, a torn ACL is the only hope that any non-Madridista will have at their team enjoying success. Real will win this year’s La Liga title and probably the next 10 while Mbappé is still playing. 

Who actually watches this league? 

PSG, it was always PSG to win the title, and it will always be PSG to win the title. The second-place team is literally named Brest, considering that they only have 2 gold common players on Fifa 24, you can assume that they are truly wank. Another Ligue 1 winners medal will go in the trophy case of Kylian Mbappé before his blockbuster move to Los Blancos this summer.