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We are past the half way stage in all the top five leagues across Europe and at this stage the battle for the title, the European spots and the fight for the right to stay in the top tier is heating up. Favourites for the title, for European qualification and for the drop are already clear in almost all the leagues.So here is a statistical comparison of the top 5 leagues in Europe, namely, Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Serie A to find out which is the most competitive one amongst the lot.For uniformity we are making the comparison using the league table at the halfway stage in these leagues.
#1 Points difference between the top teams
Premier League: Just like it is today, Chelsea and Manchester City led the title race at the halfway stage. Manchester City trailed their rivals by just three points at the halfway stage. While the third placed team at that stage, Manchester United, were a further seven points behind Manchester City.
La Liga: Real Madrid led the table by 48 points after 19 games followed by arch rivals Barcelona with 44 points. Last season’s champions Atletico Madrid trailed the leaders by 7 points.
Bundesliga: Bayern Munich led the table at the halfway stage with 45 points out of a maximum of 51. They led second placed Wolfsburg by a massive 11 points. Wolfsburg also had a significant lead of six points over third placed Bayer Leverkusen.
Ligue 1: The Ligue 1 table was interesting at the halfway stage. Marseille led the table by two points ahead of Lyonnais, while defending champions PSG trailed the leaders by just 3 points. Marseille had 41 points at the halfway stage.
Serie A: Serie A table was not as lopsided as it usually was over the past few years, but Juventus led the table as expected with 46 points and their closest competitor was AS Roma who were 5 points behind the leaders. Roma held a significant lead of 8 points over third placed Napoli.
Verdict: With 3 points separating the first three teams, Ligue 1 looks like the most competitive league at the top end of the table at the halfway stage of the season.
#2 Overall difference between the Top and bottom
Premier League: At the halfway stage in the Premier League, Chelsea led the table with 46 points and Leicester City was at the other end with just 13 points. There was a massive 33 points difference between these two clubs at the halfway stage.
La Liga: After 19 games, Real Madrid had 48 points in the league. At the same stage Granada were at the bottom of the league table with just 14 points and 34 points separated the top from the bottom.
Bundesliga: Bayern Munich led the table with 45 points after 17 league games while SC Freiburg were at the bottom with 15 points. The two teams at either end of the table were separated by 30 points.
Ligue 1: Olympique de Marseille led the table with 41 points at the halfway stage while SM Caen were at the bottom with 15 points. The two teams were separated by 26 points midway through the season.
Serie A: Juventus led the table with 46 points after 19 league games while Parma who finished strongly last season were at the wrong end of the table with just 9 points. The teams were separated by 37 points at that stage.
Verdict: The difference between the top and the bottom is least in France. The two teams are separated by 26 points while in all other leagues, the difference is 30 points or higher.
#3 Number of teams fighting for the Champions League spots
Teams who trail the team sitting in the last Champions League spot by 5 points or less are considered to be within a fighting chance of qualifying for Europe.
Premier League: There are four Champions League spots available for English clubs. Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United occupied the first three places and Southampton were fourth with 33 points.
The Saints were level on points with Arsenal, but the Gunners were placed fifth due to an inferior goal difference. Four other teams, who were separated by 5 points, were behind Arsenal. These teams are namely, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United, Liverpool and Swansea.
That’s six different teams involved in a battle for the top 4 and seven if you count third-placed Manchester United.
La Liga: Spain also has four Champions League spots and Sevilla occupied the fourth spot with 39 points. The Europa League champions were closely followed by Valencia with 38 points and then Villarreal with 35 points. Realistically these three teams will fight for the fourth place.
Bundesliga: There are four places up for grabs in Germany. Fourth placed Borussia Monchegladbach are closely followed by five other teams separated by just 4 points and also third placed Leverkusen only lead Monchengladbach by a single point.
Monchengladbach are on 27 points and are followed by Schalke 04, FC Ausburg, 1899 Hoffenheim, Hannover 96 and Eintracht Frankfurt.
Ligue 1: Teams from France have three Champions League spots. Paris Saint Germain sit in third place with 38 points and have a three point lead over Saint Etienne. The fifth placed team is six points behind PSG. Only Saint Etienne have a realistic chance of fighting any of the top three teams for the last Champions League spot.
Serie A: Napoli who sit in third place with 33 points occupied the last Champions League spot in Italy at the halfway stage. Sampdoria, Lazio, Fiorentina and Genoa are with a five point difference from Napoli and will fight them for the final spot.
Verdict: Despite having four Champions League berths, the competition in England and Germany for a place in Europe is fierce than in all the other leagues.
#4 Number of teams fighting relegation
Teams who lead the team sitting in the last relegation spot by 3 points or less are considered to be in a relegation battle.
Premier League: Crystal Palace were 18th at the halfway stage with 16 points and in the relegation zone on goal difference behind Hull City. West Bromwich and QPR were just one and two points ahead of Palace respectively. So by including Burnley and Leicester who were in 19th and 20th positions, that’s six teams fighting for the right to remain in the top tier.
La Liga: Almeria were 18th with 16 points and six other teams are ahead of them with just three points separating them, while Levante and Granada are just 1 and 2 points behind Almeria.
Real Sociedad who are 12th with 19 points are joined by Cordoba, Deportivo, Athletic Bilbao, Getafe and Elche in the relegation battle.
Bundesliga: If the first nine teams were in a fight for the Champions League spots, then the last nine teams are involved in a relegation battle in Germany, because SC Paderborn 07, with 19 points and in 10th position, are just 2 points above the relegation playoffs spot. FC Koln, Mainz, Hertha BSC, Hamburger SV, Stuttgart, Weder Bremen, Borussia Dortmund and SC Freiburg are the teams behind Paderborn and involved in the relegation battle.
Ligue 1: Evian are 18th in France with 19 points, followed by Bastia and Caen with 19 and 15 points respectively. OGC Nice who sit in 12th position with 22 points are just three points away from safety, which means that teams like Guingamp, Toulouse, Lorient, Lens and Metz who occupy places from 13 to 17 are also involved in the fight to survive the drop.
Serie A: Cagliari are 18th in the league with 16 points while 19th and 20th placed Cesena and Parma have just 9 points each and are separated by their goal difference.
Chievo with 18 points and Empoli with 19 points are the only other teams within a three point range of Cagliari and fighting for survival.
Verdict: In terms of fight to survive the drop, Germany stand out in comparison to all the other league.
#5 OVERALL VERDICT
Considering all the above mentioned aspects, the Premier League looks the most balanced and competitive league amongst the lot with two teams fighting for the title and a handful of teams fighting for Europe and the right to stay in the top tier.
Serie A looks the most lopsided league with Juventus holding a considerable lead and very few teams involved in a the battle for European spots and relegation battle.
The most interesting one is the Bundesliga though, because despite the dominance of Bayern Munich and then Wolfsburg. The first nine teams have a realistic chance of finishing in the Champions League positions while the last nine teams have a good chance of getting relegated.
