A reminder of what’s at stake as Europe’s biggest leagues return

When French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced that all sporting events, including the ones played behind closed doors, would be banned in France until September, it was a mild shock. Home to one of Europe’s ‘Big Five’ leagues, it was the first to hop off the fence and announce an official decision. The date on which this news broke was April 28th, a day on which 328 new Covid-19 deaths were announced in France. It was a month in which thousands of people died from the novel disease so the announcement had a tinge of inevitability about that. Fast forward to a little over a month later and that biting of the bullet looks like jumping the gun in hindsight.

The Bundesliga returned halfway through May and – a few incidents aside – its return has been an overwhelming success. The return of Germany’s top tiers has presented a model for other countries to replicate and paved the way for the return of the other three big leagues in June: England’s Premier League, Spain’s La Liga and Italy’s Serie A. It creates a headache for the Ligue de Football Professional (LFP) as teams that missed out on European football (such as Lyon) and teams that were relegated (such as Amiens) without playing all of their fixtures will now be more confident in winning their legal battles against what they perceive to be an unjust and hasty decision.

The Premier League came to a halt on March 13th. Liverpool were top of the table by a considerable distance, leading second-placed Manchester City by 25 points. City have a game in hand but Liverpool only need two wins from their remaining nine matches to win the title. Their coronation is a matter of when rather than if. City have been suspended from European football next season for FFP breaches. That decision could be overturned if their appeal is successful but in the event that it stands, the European places will be decided minus City. Manchester United currently hold fifth place and therefore have the last Champions League place. They face fierce competition from Wolves, Sheffield United, Spurs and Arsenal, among others. The relegation battle is another item of intrigue in the Premier League with only eight points separating bottom-placed Norwich and Brighton in 15th place.

The title race in Serie A has been more exciting than usual going into the final fixtures of the campaign. Aiming for their eighth title in a row, Juventus were top of the table but being chased down by an exciting Lazio side, only one point behind. Inter Milan were expected to run Juventus close under the tutelage of Antonio Conte yet fell away after a strong start and they are now nine points behind the champions, albeit with a game in hand.

The race for the final Champions League place has a number of contenders with Atalanta presently holding the lead. The highest-scoring team in Serie A, Atalanta are still in this season’s edition of the Champions League (no resumption date has been announced) and have Roma, Napoli and Milan on their heels domestically. With 12 games to go, no side is condemned to relegation yet and there are only nine points between Lecce in 18th and Bologna in tenth so plenty could change.

Barcelona are on course to win their third La Liga title in a row but they’re only two points clear of Real Madrid and haven’t looked like their usual irrepressible selves. The same could be said for a Madrid side in transition, one trying to integrate a number of young stars at once. At least Madrid don’t have to contend with infighting like Barcelona, where spats are played out in public on a regular basis. The title is up for grabs and so
are the remaining Champions League places. Sevilla and Real Sociedad currently occupy third and fourth respectively but there are only ten points between Julen Lopetegui’s team and Athletic Bilbao in tenth place. Better things are expected of Atletico Madrid, currently lagging behind in sixth place, following their victory over Liverpool in Europe. The relegation battle is a relatively open one with only nine points separating Valladolid in 15th and an Espanyol side anchoring the table.

After Euro 2020 was cancelled, it appeared as though it would be a quiet summer without any sport. Instead, we will be treated to a festival of football over the coming weeks. Follow all of the drama and keep informed of how to assess the upcoming fixtures by checking the football predictions on Wincomparator. It promises to be a fascinating finale for the big leagues returning and we can’t wait.