Italy, Spain, Scotland – the national football titles are as good as taken here. But in many leagues, the championship race is still as exciting as in the Bundesliga.
SSC Napoli is 17 points ahead of Lazio Rome and could still win the championship in April. FC Barcelona is just as clear ahead of Real Madrid as Scottish record champions Celtic Glasgow are over the competition. In Switzerland, too, the Young Boys Bern look like the safe champions (19 point lead).
England-Premier League
Arsenal FC are leaders in the English Premier League and have Manchester City breathing down their necks. The two clubs are separated by five points. Behind City are Newcastle and Manchester United, both tied on points and eleven points behind, and have high hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.
Tottenham, Aston Villa and Liverpool FC can still hope for 5th place, which would entitle them to participate in the Europa League.
Spain – La Liga
FC Barcelona is eleven points ahead of Real. They are followed by Atletico Madrid and Real Sociedad San Sebastian in the Champions League. For the Basques, participation in the premier class would be a huge success.
France and Netherlands
In France’s Ligue 1, everything looks set for another title for Paris Saint Germain. They are eight points ahead of Olympique Marseille and RC Lens. Comfortable. The same applies to the Eredivisie in the Netherlands. Feyernoord Rotterdam is also eight points behind PSV Eindhoven there, the big Ajax Amsterdam currently have to be content with third place and, if that were to be the case in the end, would have to qualify for the Europa Conference League. But AZ Alkmaar are just two points behind Ajax.
Head-to-head races in Greece and the Czech Republic
Big names are also at the top of the table in Greece. There it is the capital clubs AEK and Panathinaikos who decide the title among themselves. The Athenians are respectively nine and 12 points clear of two other famous Greek clubs: Olympiacos Piraeus and PAOK Saloniki. The champion starts in the qualification for the Champions League.
It’s different in Austria. RB Salzburg, as the leader of the table, is about to win the next national title and should then start directly in the premier class. And the second, currently Sturm Graz, should also have hopes for the big European stage as a qualifier.
In the “1st Fotbalová Liga” in the Czech Republic, it is also the capital city clubs that have their hands on the championship title. Slavia Prague has a much better goal difference than Sparta Prague, who have the same number of points. However, the title decision in the Czech Republic falls in the playoffs, just like in Belgium or Denmark.
Roger Schmidt in Portugal with title ambitions
After the end of the Champions League, however, German coach Roger Schmidt could still win the championship in Portugal. Benfica Lisbon are four points ahead of FC Porto, but the small club Sporting Braga, third in the table, can have high hopes of qualifying for the Champions League: pursuers Sporting Lisbon are nine points behind.