Europe’s Unexpected Table Leaders

By: chris | October 27th, 2008

If you’ve looked at the tables across Europe, you might find yourself doing double takes to make sure that is the name you saw up there above everyone else. And chances are you were correct the first time. Big money is taking a backseat to good football, intelligent strategy and shrewd business moves. It’s a good time to be the fan of an underdog, that’s for sure. But don’t get too excited, because the giants will likely find their way back to the top some way or another before the seasons end.

Until then, a little look at Europe’s surprise leaders.

La Liga

Top of the table: Valencia. (20pts, +13)

They were awful last year. Abysmal. Horrendous. They even had to fight relegation. This year they’ve eased into their resurgence, being top of the table but having yet to face any of the big guns. So it’s probably a bit too soon to talk about their title credentials – especially with Barca having gone from shitty start to best team in the world in the snap of a finger – but it’s safe to say they couldn’t be happier in Valencia.

Serie A

Top of the table: Udinese (17pts, +9)

It’s been a strange, strange start to the year in Serie A. Good teams are bad, bad teams are good, and currently leasing the top of the table is a team whose best player made €650,000 last year, contributing to a total payroll of under €15m. Proof positive you don’t need money to be good. Sometimes, it’s just about the football.

Premier League

Top of the table: Liverpool.

Rafa’s Spanish armada is undoubtedly a very good side, but they aren’t/weren’t supposed to be built for domestic action. They’re a team which thrives on European nights. Well not anymore. The Reds are starting to build the portfolio of a championship team: gritty wins, late game comebacks, sensational away performances. A long way yet, but they certainly look like the real deal.

Bundesliga

Top of the table: Hoffenheim. (19pts, +10)

Have you heard of this team? Me neither. No coverage here. No sirree.

Their win against Hamburg SV, table toppers until the final whistle, removed any doubts that this team is a fluke. But whether or not the village team come good can win the Bundesliga is another matter entirely. Their trip to Allianz Arena on December 5th should be mighty interesting, because the overdog looks to have found its feet.

Eredivisie

Top of the table: FC Groningen (16pts, +13)

The last time a team not named Ajax, PSV or Feyenoord won the Eredivisie? AZ in 1981. An occasion which has only happened three times in the history of the Eredivisie. FC Groningen is a wonderful Cinderella story, but one of the Dutch masters is going to awake from its slumber soon and overtake the minnows. And even if they maintain it through the end of the year, Groningen will find it impossible to keep their best players from jumping ship (like Marcus Berg) with a budget resembling the bottom of my couch cushions.

Russian Premier League

Top of the table: Rubin Kazan (56pts, +24)

With only four games left in the RPL season, Rubin look to be unlikely champions this year. But perhaps more interesting than their unexpected victory are the rumblings coming from Russia. From a recent guardian article:

Back in May, in Moscow for the Champions League final, a contact with links in the betting industry mentioned that Rubin Kazan were going to win the league. They had, it was claimed, been throwing games over the previous two or three seasons on the understanding that they could reclaim those points in this, the season of their 50th anniversary.

And voila, they’re unexpectedly leading the league. No direct evidence, but this is Russian football – hardly unthinkable.

Portuguese Liga

Top of the table: CD Nacional (13pts, +5)

Like the Eredivisie, the Portuguese Liga winners circle is a pretty exclusive club. Only Boavista has broken through The Big Three of Sporting, Benfica and Porto since 1946, and this probably won’t be another exception with CD Nacional having never finished higher than 4th. Ditto for Leixoes, also sitting on 13 points, as they finished 14th last year after promotion. Time to roll the dice and pick your favorite of The Big Three.