The world of football has given us yet another scintillating season this year and like always fans around the world are keeping tabs on when they can tune in next to watch their favourite team play. The year had a lot of surprises in store for everyone as we saw new individuals and teams rise to the occasion, making the beautiful game even more unpredictable and nail biting.
Many hearts were broken and a few others were mended as the roller coaster of yet another footballing campaign drew to a close a month ago. There were many gruelling stories from all the top leagues in Europe and a few stood out from the rest for obvious reasons.
Here we take a look at the 10 best moments from the recently concluded 2016-17 football season:
#10 RB Leipzig’s fairytale run that made us all dream
RB Leipzig had a fairytale debut season this year under manager Ralph Hasenhuttl and the Bundesliga club came very close to dethroning Bayern Munich as the most dominant side in Germany. Leipzig’s fortunes underwent a huge overhaul when the then fifth-tier club from the east German region of Saxony called SSV Markranstädt, were taken over and rebranded by Austrian energy drink manufacturer Red Bull back in 2009.
Soon, the club started off on their quick ascent through the various divisions and finally reached the top tier in 2016, going on to register a 13 game unbeaten start to the season, the best ever by a Bundesliga newcomer. The newly promoted side played an attacking and successful brand of football that left their opponents stunned. Leipzig also boasted the youngest average age of any Bundesliga side this season (24.1).
Leipzig were eventually overthrown by Bayern at the top of the table but they managed to finish second and earn qualification for the Champions League next season which can be considered as a huge achievement in itself.
#9 Arsene Wenger becoming the most successful manager in FA Cup history
Arsenal’s 2-1 triumph over Chelsea in the FA Cup final came as a huge relief for Arsene Wenger, the competition’s most successful manager, after a poor league campaign that saw the Gunners finish outside the top four for the first time in 20 years. Even though they failed to secure qualification for the Champions League next season, Wenger received a two-year extension with the club thanks to his prolific domestic cup record.
In a season where he was under a lot of scrutiny and even touted to step down as Arsenal manager, this win would have certainly given him a lot of confidence and belief to carry on at the Emirates.
We might have to wait a little longer to know if it was the right decision by the board to back Wenger but this moment would have been one of his favourite considering the amount of stick he received from fans and media alike.
#8 Bradley Lowery the warrior
Sunderland’s six-year-old fan Bradley Lowery, who has been fighting cancer for a majority of his young life, deserves a mention on this list after Sunderland and Jermaine Defoe made sure that the little champ had the best experience of his life when he came onto the field and scored a penalty in the build-up to the game against Chelsea at the Stadium of Light.
The young boy’s life took a defining twist when he was diagnosed with neuroblastoma – a rare cancer that affects babies – when he was just 18 months old. Bradley quickly struck a friendship with his idol Defoe and has a good relationship with many of the Sunderland players who visited him in the hospital. He was also invited to the BBC Sports Personality Of The Year show, and the shot he struck in the warm-up before Sunderland’s game against Chelsea was picked as Match of the Day’s Goal of the Month.
Credit to Sunderland for treating this young fan in the best possible way!
#7 Brendan Rodgers and his set of invincibles
Brendan Rodgers’ life as Celtic manager has gone according to the script as Celtic secured a domestic treble without losing a single match. Rodgers, who took the job from Norwegian Ronny Deila at the beginning of the 2016 campaign, completed a dream first year at the club when his side beat Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup final to complete a set of three trophies.
To win the treble is an achievement in itself but to do so by going unbeaten over 47 matches domestically is no understatement and that is why this Celtic side and Rodgers earn their position on this list. The former Liverpool boss transformed the aura surrounding Celtic with his man-management and tactical nous which went unmatched in Scotland.
Now he stands alongside Jock Stein and Martin O’Neill as a treble winner in what has been a historic effort, to say the least!
#6 Dirk Kuyt’s homecoming and Feyenoord’s Eredivisie triumph
Dirk Kuyt guided his club to their first league title in 18 years after he scored a hat-trick on the final day of the Eredivisie season against Heracles. The player confirmed his retirement shortly after to pull the chains on a fairytale script that saw the Dutchman return to his former club and help them become champions after nearly two decades. Feyenoord went into the last game of the season requiring nothing less than a victory and Kuyt stepped up to deliver the goods.
The midfielder played a key role in the club’s domestic success this season by scoring 12 goals in the league and also managed to grab four assists in the process. Kuyt started off at Utrecht but it was at Feyenoord where he made his name and attracted interest from Premier League giants Liverpool where he went on to earn plaudits for being a tireless worker.
But nobody thought he would come back to Feyenoord and end their league title drought in that fashion, a fitting farewell to a club legend.
#5 Monaco usurping PSG to the Ligue 1 title
Leonardo Jardim’s side can easily be considered Europe’s favourite underdog after the kind of season they had, both domestically as well as in Europe. A change in policy and a bunch of hardworking players under a resolute manager resulted in Monaco going all the way and overthrowing PSG as Ligue 1 champions, a feat that has not been achieved by any side in the last five years.
Monaco did not have the squad depth of PSG or many of the other European clubs but with a clever squad rotation system they managed to do well in all the competitions as evidenced by semi-final appearances in the Champions League and French Cup, and a runners-up finish in the League Cup.
Jardim deserves a lot of credit for the way he built the team in the last three years after losing a lot of key players including James Rodriguez, Anthony Martial and Yannick Carrasco. A rejuvenated Radamel Falcao and new stars like Kylian Mbappe and Benjamin Mendy ensured that Monaco regained their status as Ligue 1 champions.
#4 Barcelona vs PSG – Champions League round of 16
FC Barcelona completed the greatest ever comeback in Champions League history when they overturned a 4-0 deficit against PSG at the Nou Camp in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16. The Catalans were outplayed in the first leg in Paris but they came out all guns blazing at home to record a remarkable win on an unforgettable night in the history of the football club.
Barcelona ran out 6-1 winners on the night to win 6-5 on aggregate, thanks to a scintillating performance from Neymar as he saved his side’s blushes by scoring twice in the space of two minutes towards the dying stages of the game.
“If they can score four, we can score six,” Luis Enrique had said. No one believed him and he probably didn’t even believe himself, until that goal from Sergi Roberto in added time.
Incredible and astonishing to say the least!
#3 Chelsea shifting to 3-4-3 after going 3-0 down at Arsenal
It was 10 minutes into the second half at the Emirates when Marcos Alonso replaced Cesc Fabregas and the visitors (trailing their rivals 3-0), in an attempt to stem the bleeding, switched to a back three. In what would go on to become one of the greatest ever tactical shifts in the history of the Premier League, Chelsea would go on to not concede another goal for more than 10 hours of football, winning 13 games on the spin.
This proved to be the turning point in Chelsea’s season. In fact, the system was so successful that as many as 17 teams in the league adopted a back three at some point of the season thanks to Conte’s unparalleled success in his first season.
#2 Paulo Dybala vs Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-final
The Champions League quarter-final tie between Juventus and Barcelona saw a certain Argentinian announce himself to the world. Paulo Dybala took the opportunity with both hands as his side faced a team that had recently completed one of the greatest comebacks ever against PSG in the previous round. The 23-year-old’s brace ensured that Juventus ran out 3-0 winners on the night and helped him draw comparisons to his national team counterpart Lionel Messi, who ended up on the losing side that night.
Also read: Why Paulo Dybala should snub suitors and stay with Juventus
Dybala went on to play in Juventus’ 4-1 loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League final at Cardiff and also played a key part in the Old Lady’s successful domestic double. However, this particular moment will go down as the one in which he announced himself to the masses and hence it rightfully makes the list.
#1 Real Madrid’s duodecima
Zinedine Zidane’s Real Madrid became the first ever club to retain the Champions League when they beat Juventus 4-1 in the final at Cardiff. Arguably one of the most defining moments of the season that underlined the Los Blancos’ status as the best club in the world, this came on the back of a successful league campaign where they managed to win the title for the first time in five years.
Cristiano Ronaldo was yet again at his best as he helped his side with his two goals in the final and yet again finished as the top scorer of the Champions League season. It looks like the player is set for yet another Ballon d’Or that would help him equal Messi’s record of five and he undoubtedly deserves every accolade that comes his way.
This remarkable achievement can be seen as the start of something new as it is clearly evident that Zidane is trying to implement a long-term plan at the club that could help the Spanish giants get back to their glory days in Europe. Two European titles in his first three seasons at the club is not a bad way to start, is it?
Honourable mention: Chapecoense winning the Campeonato Catarinense title
