Every year, every season, in every football competition there are contenders and also pretenders who just fill up the numbers. It is always fun to be a fan of Europe’s elite clubs such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, and Manchester United, the unadulterated happiness of your club success never tastes better as when you don’t anticipate it. This season is the same.
Lots of underdogs across Europe are driving their way up to league tables, reminding us why everybody loves the beautiful game of football and permitting us to jubilate and celebrate the triumphant victory when we experience the grandiose rise.
As everybody loves a good underdog, today we take a look at top underdog teams who have performed beyond the capacity in some of Europe’s top Leagues.
Sheffield United
League: English Premier League
Position: 5th
Coach: Chris Wilder
Standout player: John Lundstram
Sheffield United was one of the three teams promoted to the English Premier League at the end of last season after being away from the top flight for 12 years and after just getting promoted, the blades are very close to UEFA Champions League places than where they were expected to be, (the relegation zone).
The blades have ten wins, even more than Manchester United who sits in 8th and Arsenal in 10th position. They are just 2 points away from Chelsea who is also vying for Champions League spot.
In comparison to their two fellow promoted sides, Norwich is almost certain for a return to the Championships while Aston Villa could follow suit as they sit in 17th one point above the last drop place. One of the players that have contributed to this envious achievement is midfielder John Lundstram, others include Enda Stevens, Oliver Norwood, and Dean Henderson.
Getafe
League: La Liga
Position: 3rd
Coach: Jose Bordalas
Standout Player: Angel Rodriguez
Real Madrid and Barcelona are sitting in first and second on the La Liga table, you expect Atletico Madrid to follow in 3rd but no, Getafe is not contented with last season’s 5th position as they are 7 points away from second-placed Barcelona.
They have 3 points more than Atletico Madrid who is in 4th place and recently thrashed Valencia by 3-0 sitting above Sevilla, Real Sociedad, Athletic Bilbao, Villarreal and Valencia who are a top gun in La Liga. Angel Rodriguez has been extremely influential with 9 goals scored for the team as well as Jamie Mata.
Sivasspor
League: Turkish Super Lig
Position: 1st
Coach: Riza Calimbay
Standout Player: Mustafa Yatabare
A quick guess of who sits at the top of the Turkish Super Lig would elicit just two or three names which include Fenerbache, Galatasaray or probably Besiktas but any of these three names would have been wrong.
Sivasspor is the surprise team at the top of the league with the regular contender of Galatasaray and Fenerbache sitting in the 5th and 6th positions. The team had earlier finished last season in 12th position but they currently are one point above Trabzonspor in 2nd with 42 points.
Mustafa Yatabare and Aruna Kine have been important to the team’s feat scoring goals as well as Emre Kinilic.
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Lazio
League: Serie A
Position: 3rd
Coach: Simone Inzaghi
Standout Player: Ciro Immobile
While Juventus and Inter Milan fight for the Italian Serie A, Lazio has ensured that they are close by in case either or both sides slip and drop points. There is a tinge of optimism as the Rome club sits third with one point away from the first position.
Important to the feat is Ciro Immobile with 25 goals as the league top scorer and the team hasn’t lost since September 2019 in a 1-0 loss to Inter Milan. For a team that ended last season in 8th position now within touching distance of the Serie A title, they have exceeded expectations.
Rennes
League: French Ligue1
Position: 3rd
Coach: Stephan Julien
Standout Player: Niang M’Baye
Rennes finished on the number 10 spot last season, but with a couple of signings such as Steven N’Zonzi, Steve Mandada and Souleyman Doumbia, the French outfit are waiting in the wings to take over the second spot from Marseille should they (Marseille) fluff their chance.
Surprisingly, Steve Mandada is among the three goalkeepers so far this season to have recorded the highest number of clean sheets in Europe’s top 5 leagues. He has played 23 matches this season, conceding 19 times and 11 clean sheets, currently, joint with two Madrid based goalkeepers (Thibaut Courtois) and (Jan Oblak).
