Every club goes through a bad phase but some clubs hit rock bottom. They were written off by the media and fans alike. They had problems in winning games either due to managerial issues or due to a lack of form.
However, through determination and sheer hard-work, these teams managed to turn their seasons around in spectacular fashion, managing to not only guarantee themselves safety but also giving their fans something to cheer about.
Here are the six clubs that had the best comebacks this season.
1) Olympique Lyonnais (Lyon)
Lyon did not start the season the way they would have liked, languishing in 9th spot. A club of Lyon’s stature would not have expected to be in such a predicament. Their top scorer from last season Alexandre Lacazette was misfiring which had put the club in trouble.
They were in the position to miss out on Champions League, which would be catastrophic for them as it would mean a huge financial hit. On the 24th of December, Lyon head coach Hubert Fournier was sacked by the club with the club in just in the top half of the table.
They hired Bruno Genesio the same day and as soon as he was hired, Lyon’s fortunes changed. With a string of strong performances and hard work, the performances started improving and their star man started firing once again. The French club bounced back and ended the season in 2nd place behind champions Paris Saint-Germain.
Worst Position: 9 Final Position: 2
2) Swansea City
Swansea began the season with Gary Monk at the helm, who had replaced legendary footballer Michael Laudrup as the head coach. He was still playing for Swansea at that time when he was made player-manager of the club.
But this season the performances were beginning to drop and the Welsh club could hardly get any victories with only one in 11 Premier League matches. He was sacked as manager when the club were 15th in the table.
Alan Curtis was hired as interim coach for a brief period till they could find another manager to take over. Performances were even worse under him as the club were languishing at 18th place in the relegation zone. Then Francesco Guidolin was hired as the head coach of the club.
Performances started improving and the club went on a winning spree as his side beat Everton for the first time in their history and the side also beat Liverpool to secure safety for the club. This change in performance took Swansea City from 18th place to 12th in the league.
Worst Position: 18 Final Position: 12
3) Las Palmas
Spanish side Las Palmas had gained promotion to La Liga after defeating Real Zaragoza in the playoff finals on 21 June. But all was not fun and games as they found themselves in 19th spot by October, having won only one of their first 10 games.
They were written off and it was generally believed that they would be relegated to the Segunda division. On 19 October, Las Palmas sacked manager Paco Herrera and hired Quique as head coach.
They started playing well and got high profile wins over Real Sociedad, Real Betis and Celta Vigo, who were all above Palmas. Thus, they improved their league position and ended their campaign at 11th position.
Worst Position: 19 Final Position: 11
4) Lille OSC
Lille entered the 2015-16 season having finished 8th in Ligue 1 in 2014-15. So they were expecting to finish at a higher position than the previous campaign. But they had a horrendous start to the season as they lost their first home game to eventual champions PSG.
Their poor form continued as they had only one win in eight games and two in their first 15 games. Having endured such a season, head coach Herve Renard parted ways with Lille on 11 November. On 22 November, Frederic Antonetti was appointed as manager of Lille.
Under his guidance Lille went on an unbeaten spree, only losing thrice since his appointment. They embarked on a six-match winning run, which helped their chances of European qualification and they ended up finishing 5th in the league. They were even runners up in the Coupe de la Ligue in which they lost to Paris Saint-Germain.
Worst Position: 16 Final Position: 5
5) Borussia Monchengladbach
Borussia Monchengladbach entered the 2015-16 having finished third in the 2014-15 season. They had aspirations of finishing higher up the table, possibly challenging for the title but things did not go according to plan as they lost their first five games in a row.
They had lost to their main rivals Borussia Dortmund in the first game of the season and their most successful head coach Lucien Favre was under immense pressure and on 20 September, he left the club by mutual consent.
Incoming manager Andre Schubert spurred Gladbach into winning six games in a row and going on an unbeaten run of 10 games. It was a total contrast to their horrid start to the season and it just shows how much hard work and a manager’s motivation can change the results of a team. Gladbach were 18th in the league when Schubert took over and were 4th at the end of the season.
Worst Position: 18 Final Position: 4
6) Juventus
Juventus started the season as winners of the last four Serie A titles and reaching the Champions League finals. So it was obvious that the fans would expect the club to at least play at the same level. However, things did not go according to plan, as they had lost their first 2 games in the league.
They had already lost to Roma and Napoli, their title challengers. They were 17th in the league after 2 games. The Italian club could only win one of their first five games and there were genuine concerns the club might not even make it to the top half of the league. However, performances started to improve and after the 11th match day, Juventus climbed to 10th in the league.
Ever since the 11th game, Juventus embarked on their greatest even run of form where they were unbeaten in 26 games. That is an incredible run of form from Allegri’s men in a season where they also won the Supercoppa Italiana.
Worst Position: 17 Final Position 1
