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Several top teams have made good starts to their new campaign. Those who impressed last season are looking to continue on an upward trajectory with a series of strong performances.
We're just a few weeks into the season, but some of these top teams have caught everyone's attention. They have claimed several victories on the trot as they move up their league tables and try to win silverware.
However, there have been a few elite clubs that have yet to step up this term. These sleeping giants will need to wake up and improve drastically to save their season. On that note, here's a look at five of them.
#5 Manchester United
Cristiano Ronaldo's signing has raised the burden of expectations on Manchester United this season. The Portuguese is off to a flying start at Old Trafford bagging four goals in as many games. But the Red Devils have disappointed as a team on a few occasions.
Ole Guannar Solskjaer's men recorded their first loss of the season against Young Boys in their Champions League opener. That blew the qualification race wide open in Group F. They also conceded third spot in the Premier League following a 1-0 loss at home to Aston Villa at the weekend.
Manchester United are already out of the Carabao Cup, following a 1-0 defeat to West Ham last week. Four victories, three defeats and one draw from eight matches are far from acceptable from a team that is tipped to compete on all fronts.
#4 Tottenham Hotspur
A 1-0 victory over defending champions Manchester City earned Tottenham Hotspur a lot of praise. However, Spurs have failed to deliver on that promise. and currently rank 11th in the Premier League table with nine points in six games.
The London-based club have suffered embarrassing defeats in each of their last three league games. Chelsea and Crystal Palace beat them 3-0 before Arsenal rubbed more salt into their wounds with a 3-1 thrashing in the north London derby on Sunday.
#3 Arsenal
Arsenal have had one of the worst starts to the season by any big club across Europe's top five leagues this term. The Gunners fell to a shocking 2-0 defeat to newly promoted Brentford in their opening Premier League fixture.
That was followed by a 2-0 loss to Chelsea and a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Manchester City, which landed them in the relegation zone. For a team that spent over €165 million on signings this summer, that was simply unacceptable.
Meanwhile, the Gunners have made some improvements in recent games, beating the likes of Norwich City, Burnley and Tottenham in their last three Premier League fixtures. They've now pulled themselves out of the relegation zone to occupy the tenth position in the table. Nevertheless, they still need to keep up the good form and climb further up the table.
#2 Barcelona
A 4-2 triumph over Real Sociedad gave Barcelona hope of a bright future following Lionel Messi's exit this summer. The Blaugrana recorded two victories and one draw in their first three La Liga fixtures before hitting a rough patch.
In their Champions League opener, they lost to Bayern Munich 3-0. The team put up a lacklustre display at Camp Nou, and couldn't attempt a shot on target throughout the 90 minutes.
A 1-1 draw with Granada and a goalless draw with Cadiz put Ronald Koeman's job on the line. But a 3-0 triumph over Levante helped ease the tension. The Blaugrana currently rank outside the top four in La Liga, occupying the sixth spot with 12 points in six games.
#1 Juventus
Many predicted that Cristiano Ronaldo's departure would have a negative effect on Juventus, and they've been proven right. In the absence of the Portuguese, the Bianconeri have been a pale shadow of their illustrious selves this season.
Juventus failed to win any of their first four Serie A games this term. They recorded two draws and as many defeats to find themselves in 18th position in the points table. The team responded in recent games, though, beating Sampdoria and Spezia in their last two league games.
However, they are still nowhere near where they should be in the table. as they currently occupy a lowly eighth spot with just eight points from six games. They are a whopping ten points behind leaders Napoli. So they will have to improve by leaps and bounds to fight for the 2021-22 Serie A title.
