The Weekly Take, Issue 24: Back from the Brink

The first matchday of the 2018-19 La Liga season saw a number of enthralling matches. Probably the most notable of these was the clash between Valencia and Atlético Madrid, two of the teams who have qualified for this season’s Champions League.

Ángel Correa opened the scoring for Atlético, but a well-taken volley by Rodrigo proved to be the game-tying goal for Valencia, earning them a point against the Madrid powerhouse.

This result is proof of a remarkable turnaround by Valencia, who not too long ago were in the worst position they had been in for many years.

In both the 2015-16 and 2016-17 La Liga seasons, Valencia finished a dismal 12th in the league, their worst two-season La Liga run since they re-entered the top flight after being promoted from the Segunda División in 1987.

In addition to their league woes, Los Che also suffered early Champions League and Europa League exits in 2015-16, and were also knocked out of the Copa del Rey in the round of 16 the following season.

To give an idea of how badly Valencia were playing at this time, in the 2016-17 season, Valencia’s leading goalscorers were Munir and Rodrigo, who scored a mere seven goals apiece.

This trying period was also marked by coaching instability, with Valencia hiring and firing five different coaches over those two years.

However, things began to change for the better in the 2017 off-season. The club hired Marcelino as coach, and also made a number of extremely shrewd signings. They signed Neto and Simone Zaza, both from Juventus, and crucially, also made multiple solid pickups on loan deals. These players brought in on loan included the likes of Geoffrey Kondogbia, Andreas Pereira, and Gonçalo Guedes, all of whom went on to become solid contributors to Valencia’s eventual revival.

In addition, Valencia also saw significant improvements in the levels of play from players such as Dani Parejo, Rodrigo, and Santi Mina. Ultimately, the 2017-18 season proved to be Valencia’s most successful in three years, as they qualified for the Champions League and reached the Copa del Rey semifinals.

However, in the previous off-season, some questioned if their success last season had just been a fluke and felt that they might not really be back. This feeling of uncertainty was strengthened by the fact that Guedes, Pereira, and Luciano Vietto all left Valencia after completing their loan stints. Valencia also loaned Zaza to Torino.

Despite these losses of personnel, Valencia were also active in the transfer market. They turned Kondogbia’s loan deal into a permanent one by signing him for €25 million. Other signings made by Valencia included the pickups of Daniel Wass from Celta and Kevin Gameiro from Atlético.

In addition, Valencia added Michy Batshuayi and, crucially, Denis Cheryshev on loan from Chelsea and Villarreal respectively.

All things considered, the reversal of Valencia’s fortunes since the end of the 2016-17 season has been extremely impressive. Not many saw this improvement coming at the time.

In fact, such has been their revival that this season, they are the most likely team to challenge La Liga’s dominant triumvirate of Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Atlético.

It must also be kept in mind that this isn’t a team with little history. During Valencia’s best era of 1998 to 2004, they won two league titles, a Copa del Rey, and a UEFA Cup (now known as the Europa League). They also reached the final of the Champions League twice, losing to Real Madrid in 2000 and Bayern Munich in 2001.

Valencia’s recent success has shown that even if a team has fallen on hard times, with good planning, shrewd signings, and a clear strategy, they can eventually make their way out of the depths.

Although they have only played one league game, if their performance against Atlético is anything to go by, Valencia can look ahead to this season with much optimism, as it seems to be the case that their fourth-place La Liga finish and deep Copa del Rey run from last season do not appear to be flukes.

If they can continue their renaissance throughout this season, expect Valencia to cause trouble for the three top teams in La Liga and also go far in both the Copa del Rey and Champions League.

The Weekly Take, Issue 23: New Coach, Same Old Arsenal

The new Premier League season has begun, and the first matchday was highlighted by a clash between Arsenal and Manchester City. City registered a 2-0 win over the Gunners, with Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva scoring the two goals for the reigning Premier League champions.

Last season, Arsenal endured a miserable campaign in what proved to be Arsène Wenger’s final season at the helm of the Gunners. They finished sixth in the league, their worst league campaign since 1995. They were also knocked out in the Europa League semifinals, as well as the third round of the FA Cup.

Realising that things were only getting worse for Arsenal, Wenger made the long-overdue decision to step down. He was subsequently replaced by Unai Emery, who joined Arsenal from PSG.

However, as evidenced by the game against City, the appointment of Emery has done little, if anything at all, to improve Arsenal.

From the very beginning of the match, Arsenal were completely outplayed, as everything they did seemed to be met by an answer from City. The likes of Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and Granit Xhaka were nowhere near the levels they are capable of playing at.

While it is true that City were favoured to come out on top comfortably, one would have thought that, with a new man in charge and a new era at the Emirates beginning, Arsenal would have offered more resistance than they did. However, as was frequently the case last season, Arsenal were shown to be nowhere near the level that they need to be at in order to challenge for titles.

One of the main problems facing the Gunners is, in fact, the new coach himself.

Considering the large amount of resources that Emery had at his disposal when he was at PSG, the team clearly underachieved during his time there.

During his two seasons in Paris, PSG only won the Ligue 1 title once, an embarrassing statistic given the financial disparity between them and the rest of the league. They also never made it beyond the round of 16 in the Champions League.

Over his four years at Valencia, once again, he never led them beyond the Champions League’s round of 16.

The only period of his coaching career that could truly be considered successful was his three-year stint at Sevilla, in which he led the Andalusian club to three Europa League titles. However, even this must come with a caveat: in those same three years, Sevilla never finished in the top four in La Liga.

Another reason that Arsenal may face a tough season ahead is the fact that, as has often been the case in past years, they have not signed players who will make a difference.

Other than Stephan Lichtsteiner, in the recently-concluded transfer window, Arsenal failed to make a single signing whom I believe will have a significant positive impact on their team.

Besides Lichtsteiner, Arsenal signed Bernd Leno, Sokratis Papasthopoulos, Mattéo Guendouzi, and Lucas Torreira.

Not a single one of these players, in my opinion, is or will be an upgrade for Arsenal. Even though some are sold on Torreira, and although he did have a solid World Cup campaign for Uruguay, it is not likely that he will make the sort of impact that will lead Arsenal to greater heights for years to come.

Furthermore, it could even be possible that Emery’s tactics do not gel with Arsenal’s play style. After the game against City, even though Emery said that it will take time for the players to properly execute his tactics, it may have been a way to keep his team’s spirits up after a loss, rather than an honest assessment of how things would necessarily go.

At the start of the season, many Arsenal fans were hopeful that a new coach and the new tactics and ideas he would bring with him would somehow bring back the glory days of the late 1990s and early 2000s.

However, although only one game has been played thus far, based on this performance, the North Londoners are lightyears away from where they dream of being. Arsenal fans may now have to brace themselves for another long, difficult season which is likely to end without much success.

The Weekly Take, Issue 22: The Most Underachieving Player of His Era

Recently, many notable transfers have been taking place. Many elite players have switched clubs in hopes of better pay, a better chance of winning titles, or both.

One of the transfers which has generated considerable interest is that of Gonzalo Higuaín, who has moved from Juventus to AC Milan.

Now, it’s not as if Higuaín has had a poor career by any means. He has scored 218 league goals in major European leagues, won five league titles and four domestic cups, finished as high as second in the European Golden Shoe rankings, and even reached the final of the World Cup.

Yet for all of this, in so many ways, Higuaín’s career can also be claimed to be extremely disappointing.

On many an occasion, he has failed to show up on the biggest stages of all.

He has only made the final of the Champions League once, with Juventus in 2017. In this match, Juve were soundly beaten by Real Madrid, losing 4-1, and Real had no trouble at all keeping their former striker at bay.

This was not the first time Higuaín had underperformed in an important final.

In the final of the 2015 Copa América, Higuaín’s Argentina team faced off against Chile, a team the Albiceleste were expected to beat with minimal trouble.

Higuaín started on the bench but came on as a substitute for Sergio Agüero in the 74th minute. The match was eventually decided via a penalty shootout, which was won by Chile.

One of the players who missed his penalty was Gonzalo Higuaín.

However, just one year later, it appeared that the then-Napoli striker had a chance for revenge, as in the final of the same tournament, Argentina once again played against Chile, and Higuaín was in the starting line-up this time.

Unfortunately, Higuaín played so poorly that he was pulled from the game in the 70th minute. This time, the roles were reversed, as it was Agüero who replaced him.

Once again, Argentina went on to lose on penalties, and, almost as if to rub salt into Higuaín’s wounds, Agüero converted his penalty in the shootout.

Of course, the most glaring example of Higuaín’s underachievement when the pressure was at its greatest occurred in the final of the 2014 World Cup, when Argentina played against Germany.

After having been set up by Lionel Messi, Higuaín had a chance which most would have expected him to have converted. However, he ended up pushing it wide, and was later substituted, with Rodrigo Palacio replacing him.

Argentina went on to lose 1-0 in extra time.

That makes for a total of four consecutive major finals, four losses, and four below-par performances by Gonzalo Higuaín.

Furthermore, despite his previously-mentioned gaudy goalscoring totals, he has never truly been able to be quite the right fit at any club he’s ever been with, and teams seem to get better after he leaves them.

Even as a youngster, when Higuaín left River Plate for Real Madrid, River Plate won the Clausura in the next season.

The year after he left Real to join Napoli, Real won the Champions League.

Although Napoli finished third in Serie A the season after Higuaín left, a spot lower than in the previous seasons, they garnered four more points than in the previous campaign, and also advanced deeper in the Coppa Italia, reaching the semifinals. They also had the misfortune of running into the greatest club team of all time in Real Madrid in the Champions League’s round of 16.

This hasn’t just happened for his club.

In World Cup qualifying, Argentina were struggling to even qualify for the tournament. In fact, they only qualified for the tournament on the final matchday of qualifying. However, after Higuaín was dropped as one of Argentina’s starters, the team’s fortunes began to turn for the better.

Just to reiterate, Higuaín has had a solid career. He has already done things many players can only dream of. Five league titles, a World Cup final appearance, hundreds of goals – those achievements must certainly be respected.

However, when all is said and done, the career of Gonzalo Higuaín will be remembered as one which never came close to reaching the levels that it could have, a fact that even the most fervent backers of “El Pipita” must admit.

The Weekly Take, Issue 21: Flying Under the Radar

The transfer window is now in full swing, and several notable transfers have already taken place.

Some of the most notable players to have changed clubs thus far include Jorginho, who has left Napoli for Chelsea; Gianluigi Buffon, who went from Juventus to Paris Saint-Germain; Riyad Mahrez, who finally maded his long-anticipated move from Leicester to Manchester City; and of course, Cristiano Ronaldo, whose transfer from Real Madrid to Juventus stunned the football world and even managed to temporarily take its focus away from the World Cup.

However, on many an occasion, it has not been the blockbuster transfers that have had the most impact on the season to come, but rather, the transfers that were initially greeted by little fanfare, but subsequently turned out to change the course of the season, and sometimes multiple seasons thereafter as well.

For example, during last off-season’s transfer window, the most talked-about transfers that hogged all the attention included the following: Álvaro Morata leaving Real Madrid for Chelsea, Romelu Lukaku’s transfer from Everton to Manchester United, and of course, Neymar’s record-breaking move from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain, which, as far as the transfer market itself is concerned, fundamentally altered the transfer market forever.

However, in terms of the impact a signing made on his new team, by far the most impactful signing of the transfer window was that of Mohamed Salah, who left Roma to join Liverpool in a move that was largely overlooked by many.

Salah went on to prove the folly of those who underestimated him by playing an incredible season marked by his scoring 32 league goals, leading Liverpool to the Champions League final, and winning a bevy of individual awards, including Premier League Player of the Season, PFA Players’ Player of the Year, FWA Footballer of the Year, and African Footballer of the Year.

On the other hand, Morata’s season was so poor that he missed Spain’s World Cup squad, Neymar missed a large portion of the season with a foot injury, and while Lukaku did have a solid season, it was nowhere near the level of Salah’s.

This phenomenon has occurred before.

In the mid-season transfer window of 2011, several transfers which generated tremendous amounts of hype were made. Chief among them were the signings of Fernando Torres and Andy Carroll, who moved from Liverpool to Chelsea and Newcastle to Liverpool respectively. The immense buzz that accompanied these transfers caused Manchester City’s signing of Edin Džeko from Wolfsburg to be overshadowed.

However, circumstances would play out in the exact opposite manner that one would expect, given how much hype each of these signings received.

Neither Torres nor Carroll ever really adapted well to life at their new clubs, and both soon entered a terminal decline. On the other hand, throughout his tenure at City, Džeko was a key contributor, scoring 50 league goals and helping City win two league titles before departing for Roma in 2015. Džeko scored more goals over this period than Torres and Carroll combined.

Several of the world’s best players today were once under-the-radar signings as well. Not many had heard of N’Golo Kanté in 2015, Diego Costa in 2010, or Mats Hummels in 2009; however, all three went on to make major contributions to their new clubs: Leicester, Atlético Madrid, and Borussia Dortmund respectively.

It takes a shrewd team to figure out which players who have been slept on and overlooked are ready to make the jump and become a key contributor on a top team. Many under-the-radar signings who succeed and make significant impacts were selected based on careful scouting, thorough evaluation, and knowledge about how they would fit into their new team.

Conversely, in the examples already provided about hyped transfers of players who never quite reached the expected levels, the clubs who signed these players went directly for the “star names” without considering the context, or how each player would fit into the team.

As the transfer window carries on, there will surely be more big-name transfers to come which will attract all the headlines. However, do not overlook supposedly “lesser” signings, because some team out there might have just unearthed a true gem who turns out to be the missing piece they needed all along.

The Weekly Take, Issue 20: Post-World Cup Special: That’s It for the World Cup – Now What?

It has been a gripping, enthralling month of World Cup action, culminating in France’s 4-2 victory over Croatia in the final to give Les Bleus their second World Cup title and first since 1998.

However, lost in the shuffle of everything that has gone on during this World Cup is this: what impact is this World Cup going to have on the players as they prepare for the upcoming European club football season?

Some players in this World Cup have seen their stock soar, while others have seen theirs collapse.

One of the more interesting points to be discussed in the wake of the World Cup is this: what is going to happen at Paris Saint-Germain this season?

During the World Cup, PSG’s two superstars, Kylian Mbappé and Neymar, had very different experiences.

Mbappé was the breakout superstar of the tournament, emerging as one of the world’s best players, even at the age of 19. He scored four goals and was arguably France’s best player during their run to the title.

On the other hand, Neymar’s Brazil team were knocked out in the quarterfinals, and Neymar himself became an object of scorn and ridicule because of his overreactions during matches, especially when he was fouled.

Taking these factors into consideration, as well as the fact that prior to the World Cup, Neymar had been the focal point of PSG’s team, it will be interesting to see if Neymar will be willing to take more of a backseat to accommodate his younger teammate, or if Mbappé’s growing stature will lead to discord between the two, which would then potentially derail the Paris club’s season.

Given Neymar’s personality, as well as the fact that he left Barcelona to become the best player on a team, the latter scenario is a distinct possibility.

Another point which remains to be seen is the question of which previously-overlooked players have earned a move to a bigger club through their World Cup performances.

Among the players who rose to global prominence during the World Cup include Villarreal winger Denis Cheryshev (Russia), Stuttgart full-back Benjamin Pavard (France), Beşiktaş centre-back Domagoj Vida (Croatia), and Leicester centre-back Harry Maguire (England).

Do not be surprised if, on the back of their strong World Cup campaigns, one or more of these players end of signing for a major European club during this ongoing transfer window.

In the past, players have used the World Cup as a springboard to take their career to the next level, and these players have the opportunity to do just that.

The World Cup also certainly had an impact on the race for the Ballon d’Or.

Every year since 2008, the award has been won by either Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi. However, this year, that may change because of the fact that neither Ronaldo’s Portugal nor Messi’s Argentina were all that impressive during the tournament, as both teams were knocked out in the round of 16.

That may open the door for the likes of Mbappé, his French teammate Antoine Griezmann, tournament MVP Luka Modrić, or perhaps a fringe contender, such as Harry Kane or Kevin De Bruyne, to possibly come through and break Ronaldo and Messi’s stranglehold on football’s most prestigious individual honour.

On a related note, it also remains to be seen how players from countries such as Spain, Germany, and Argentina will respond to their World Cup failures.

These countries are all powerhouses of world football, but all three were knocked out of the World Cup early. Therefore, there are two possibilities as to what mindset their players will enter the club season with: either they will go in with a chip on their shoulder and take out their World Cup frustrations on opposing teams, or their failure at the World Cup will continue to weigh heavily on their minds, thus negatively affecting their level of play for their clubs.

All of these factors which the World Cup has influenced, as well as the fact that the transfer window still has over a month to run, lead to one conclusion: get ready for a truly enthralling 2018-19 season of European club football that will hopefully rival the World Cup in terms of sheer excitement and intensity.

The Weekly Take, Issue 19: Bracketology for Dummies

Every four years, before the World Cup, millions of football fans the world over fill out their tournament brackets.

When the tournament ends, these charts will make their creators look like experts, idiots, or anything else in between.

Some end up coming fairly close to matching the real results, while others are nowhere near.

The following are my tips to making a World Cup bracket that will give you ultimate bragging rights among your peers and make your bracket the envy of everyone you know.

1) Accept that there will be mistakes

The odds of correctly predicting every single outcome are so ridiculously small that they might as well be considered impossible.

Somewhere during the tournament, your bracket will begin to unravel.

Even one small error will go on to have major implications.

So, it’s not a question of the perfect bracket.

It’s a question of being as close to perfection as you can.

2) The favourites don’t always top their groups

Placing all the favourites first in their groups is a rookie mistake.

Every year, some of the favourites will qualify from their group as the second-placed team.

In fact, sometimes the favourites don’t even get out of their group.

3) Don’t overlook unfancied countries

It is tempting to only put powerhouse teams from Europe or South America in your final 16.

Once again, this is the mark of a bracket amateur.

Ever since the tournament expanded its second round to 16 teams in 1986, there has always been at least one team from Asia, Africa, or North America to reach that stage.

In fact, in the last two World Cups, five such teams made it out of their groups.

4) Underdog runs/upsets

Every World Cup will have an underdog run that reaches at least the last eight.

One of the most famous examples is Croatia in 1998.

Despite never having participated in the World Cup before, as well as the fact that their war-stricken country had only been an independent nation for less than a decade, the Vatreni shocked the world by reaching the semifinals, after advancing from a group that contained Argentina, as well as knocking out Germany in the semifinals.

This is probably the most difficult part to predict.

However, anyone who correctly predicts the surprise package of the World Cup immediately looks like a genius.

Similarly, in every World Cup, at least one of the favourites will be knocked out in the group stage or second round.

The most iconic incidence of this is Brazil in 1982.

Heading into the tournament, the question was not who would win the World Cup, but who would lose to the Seleção in the final.

Brazil proceeded to lose to Italy in the second round.

Certainly, many people’s predictions went down in flames that year.

Although this is also difficult to predict, it is not quite as difficult as picking a surprise package.

Tips include looking out for top teams in difficult groups, as well as teams who are internally dysfunctional and do not function well as a unit.

5) Forget the past; focus on the present

A savvy predictor will resist the temptation to load their final-stage teams with historical powerhouses without giving any thought to how these teams are currently performing.

Furthermore, there is always a possibility that teams with not much historical success, but who currently have the best team to ever come from that country, will rewrite the history books and break new ground.

A prime example is Spain in 2010.

Before the 2010 World Cup, Spain had no history of World Cup success. Only once before, in 1950, had La Furia Roja made the final four of a World Cup. However, with a star-laden squad, Spain defied their history of failure and won it all.

To all those making a bracket for the World Cup, I only have one thing to say.

In the words of Suzanne Collins, “may the odds be ever in your favour”.

The Weekly Take, Issue 18: End-of-Season Special: Top 10 Moments of the Season

The 2017-18 European club football season has reached its end, and every club will now take a look at everything they have gone through this season, and hopefully use their experiences this season to set them up well for next season.

However, there were clearly some moments throughout the season that stood out.

In chronological order, the following are, in my opinion, the 10 most memorable moments of the 2017-18 season.

Mohamed Salah signs for Liverpool (June 22, 2017)

When Salah joined the Reds from Roma for a fee of €42 million, not even the most ardent Liverpool fan could have expected the signing to move the needle the way it did. This was understandable, considering that at the time of the signing, Salah had only scored 57 career league goals in an eight-year career.

However, he clearly was the breakout star of the season, scoring 32 league goals, leading Liverpool to the Champions League final and Egypt to the World Cup, finishing second in the European Golden Shoe rankings, winning various awards including African Footballer of the Year, Premier League Player of the Season, and FWA Footballer of the Year, and emerging as a genuine Ballon d’Or candidate.

Taking his transfer fee into account, this was easily the signing of the season.

Neymar signs for PSG (August 3, 2017)

It is one thing to break the world transfer record. It is quite another to shatter it in the manner that PSG did when they signed Neymar from Barcelona for €222 million, more than double the previous record set when Paul Pogba signed for Manchester United for €105 million just one year earlier.

In an extremely successful four-year stint with the Blaugrana, the Brazilian superstar won six major trophies, including the 2015 Champions League. He also was the top scorer of the tournament that year, and domestically, he scored 68 league goals in 123 games for Barça.

Unfortunately for him, his debut season in Paris was cut short when he broke the fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot in a match against Marseille in February.

Borussia Dortmund 4-4 Schalke (November 25, 2017)

This was probably the most enthralling league match of the season. It had it all: it was a derby, it featured a comeback from 4-0 behind, a superstar received a red card, and it was laden with goals.

Dortmund led 4-0 at halftime through goals scored by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mario Götze, and Raphaël Guerreiro, as well as a Benjamin Stambouli own goal.

However, in the second half, aided by an Aubameyang red card, Schalke scored four goals to leave the derby with the most improbable of draws.

Philippe Coutinho signs for Barcelona (January 6, 2018)

It didn’t take long for Barça to replace Neymar with another Brazilian star.

Throughout the season, Coutinho had been linked with a move to the Catalan club from Liverpool. In fact, in the previous off-season, Liverpool had rejected a ₤72 million bid for Coutinho from Barcelona. This drove Coutinho to submit a transfer request, and this request was fulfilled in January, when Barça signed him for ₤105 million.

Coutinho went on to play an important role in the second half Barça’s Double-winning campaign, immediately becoming a regular starter and fitting in seamlessly.

Roma 3-0 Barcelona (April 10, 2018)

In the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal, Barça took Roma apart, winning 4-1. This meant that in order to advance to the semifinals, Roma had to win the second-leg match by four or more goals, or 3-0, which would have put the Giallorossi through on away goals. Heading into the second leg, almost everyone assumed that the tie was all but decided, but that was not the case.

An early Edin Džeko goal pulled Roma within two, with much of the match still to be played. Then, in the 58th minute, Roma won a penalty, which was duly converted by Daniele De Rossi. Finally, in the 82nd minute, Konstantinos Manolas forever etched his name into Roma’s history books by scoring the goal which completed the incredible comeback and knocked out the team favoured to win it all.

As if that weren’t enough, De Rossi and Manolas had scored own goals in the first leg, making their goals in the second leg even more dramatic.

Arsène Wenger announces departure from Arsenal (April 20, 2018)

A day that seemed as though it would never come finally did.

After years of much pressure from Arsenal fans, Wenger announced that he would end his 22-year stint at the helm of the Gunners at the end of the season.

Wenger left Arsenal with something of a mixed record: he won 10 major trophies during his time at Arsenal and led the club to an unbeaten Premier League campaign in 2004, but also presided over a nine-year trophy drought, and in 19 Champions League campaigns, only made it to the semifinals twice.

Andrés Iniesta announces departure from Barcelona (April 27, 2018)

Wenger was not the only long-serving, iconic figure to leave his club this season. In fact, Iniesta’s departure caused even more of a stir, as he is probably a top-10 player of all time, Spain’s greatest-ever player, and perhaps the greatest central midfielder in the history of football.

In an unbelievable 16-year career at Barça, Iniesta played 674 matches for the Blaugrana, including 442 in La Liga. During this time, he won nine La Liga titles, six Copa del Rey titles, and four Champions Leagues. He was also named to the FIFA FIFPro World XI nine times, as well as the UEFA Team of the Year six times.

Iniesta’s next career stop will be J1 League club Vissel Kobe.

Levante 5-4 Barcelona (May 13, 2018)

With two matches left to be played in the La Liga season, Barcelona had yet to taste defeat. Over the last 40 years, only on four occasions had a team from one of the four major leagues completed an unbeaten league campaign, and none of them were La Liga clubs.

However, aided by Barça coach Ernesto Valverde’s fateful decision to bench Lionel Messi, as well as a remarkable hat-trick scored by Emmanuel Boateng, Levante ruined Barcelona’s pursuit of an unbeaten season.

Barça thus missed out on joining the likes of Perugia 1979, AC Milan 1992, Arsenal 2004, and Juventus 2012, though they did secure a league and cup double.

Lazio 2-3 Inter Milan (May 20, 2018)

The race for the fourth and final Champions League spot from Serie A came down to the last day of the season. Lazio needed a draw to qualify for the 2018-19 Champions League, while for Inter, only a win would do.

After 78 minutes, Lazio led 2-1 and were in a very comfortable position. That was when all hell proceeded to break loose.

Inter Milan earned a penalty, which was converted by Mauro Icardi. Shortly after that, Lazio midfielder Senad Lulić received a red card. Two minutes later, Matías Vecino put Inter 3-2 up, a lead they would never surrender. To top it all off, in the third minute of stoppage time, Lazio defender Patric received his team’s second red card of the match. In a truly astonishing final-day clash, it was the Nerazzurri who came out on top, and thus qualified for the Champions League.

Real Madrid 3-1 Liverpool (May 26, 2018)

The 2018 Champions League final will surely be remembered as one of the all-time iconic matches in club football history. It contained a spectacular goal scored by Real’s Gareth Bale, two dreadful errors by Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius, and an intriguing tactical battle between coaches Zinedine Zidane and Jürgen Klopp.

However, most importantly, it ended with Real completing their “three-peat”, sealing their place as football immortals and confirming them as probably the greatest club team of all time.

No team had ever won back-to-back European titles, let alone three in a row, since the tournament began its existence in its current form in the 1999-2000 season. This current Real Madrid team has not only broken new ground, but gone so far into this new ground that I believe no team will match its feats for at least another 50 years.