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Domestic action across Europe's elite leagues is rapidly approaching its climax and whilst several title winners could have been predicted many weeks ago, the battles for survival have served up some truly fascinating stories. For some, heartache awaits as the bottom three teams drop down to the lower division in the football tiers.Naturally, though, that does mean that several teams will enjoy the sheer elation of retaining their top-flight status. Whilst most neutrals will be more than happy to watch the drama unfold from afar, it's difficult not to form soft spots for certain teams battling against relegation.Here are five teams that most football fans would love to see beat the drop.
#5 Leicester City - EPL
Ordinarily, most football supporters are emotionally detached from Leicester City. However, recent heroics have seen the Foxes recruit temporary fans aplenty as they bid to avoid relegation back to the Championship.
Just as Nigel Pearson's men appeared dead and buried, the Foxes produced a phenomenal run of four straight league victories to climb off the bottom and out of the dreaded bottom three. With just a handful of games remaining, Leicester's great escape looks to be well and truly on.
The Foxes are blessed with a number of endearing players such as David Nugent, Leonardo Ulloa and the evergreen Esteban Cambiasso. Meanwhile, nobody likes to see all three promoted teams drop straight back down and Leicester are now the best hope of preventing that unwanted outcome.
Leicester defied the odds to start this season on fire, despite facing several big teams in the opening weeks. That spirit, which was arguably best demonstrated with an incredible 5-3 win over Manchester United, has made the Foxes easy for neutrals to love.
For sheer entertainment, as well as their unrelenting positive attitude, everyone would love to see the Foxes retain their Premier League status for 2015/16.
| # | CLUB | PLD | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | West Brom | 34 | 9 | 10 | 15 | 32 | 46 | -14 | 37 |
| 14 | Newcastle | 34 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 36 | 57 | -21 | 35 |
| 15 | Aston Villa | 34 | 8 | 8 | 18 | 26 | 48 | -22 | 32 |
| 16 | Hull City | 33 | 7 | 10 | 16 | 31 | 45 | -14 | 31 |
| 17 | Leicester City | 33 | 8 | 7 | 18 | 35 | 51 | -16 | 31 |
| 18 | Sunderland | 33 | 5 | 15 | 13 | 26 | 49 | -23 | 30 |
| 19 | QPR | 34 | 7 | 6 | 21 | 38 | 59 | -21 | 27 |
| 20 | Burnley | 34 | 5 | 11 | 18 | 26 | 52 | -26 | 26 |
#4 Deportivo La Coruna - La Liga
Just six years ago, Spanish side Deportivo La Coruna were playing UEFA Cup football. In fact for a short while just over a decade ago, they were beating the likes of Manchester United, Juventus and Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
Relegation in 2010/11 kickstarted a period of continual movement between Spanish football's top two divisions. This term is the fifth campaign of this yo-yo era and Victor Sanchez's men will be desperate to finally secure some solidarity by beating the drop.
Whilst a return to European football looks a million miles away for Brancoazuis, most neutrals would like to see them successfully take their first step back towards the top by consolidating their Liga status; not least for their giant-killing qualities.
Despite no longer residing in the upper echelons of La Liga, Deportivo have picked up notable results against the likes of Valencia and Athletic Bilbao whilst additionally claiming impressive draws at difficult away games such as Malaga and Real Sociedad.
La Liga is certainly more entertaining for Deportivo's presence; hopefully they'll grab enough points over the closing weeks to confirm their attendance next term.
| # | Team | PLD | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | Elche | 33 | 9 | 7 | 17 | 27 | 57 | -30 | 34 |
| 15 | Levante | 33 | 8 | 8 | 17 | 31 | 60 | -29 | 32 |
| 16 | Eibar | 33 | 8 | 7 | 18 | 28 | 46 | -18 | 31 |
| 17 | Almeria | 33 | 8 | 7 | 18 | 29 | 52 | -23 | 31 |
| 18 | Deportivo | 33 | 6 | 11 | 16 | 29 | 52 | -23 | 29 |
| 19 | Granada | 33 | 4 | 13 | 16 | 21 | 61 | -40 | 25 |
| 20 | Cordoba | 33 | 3 | 11 | 19 | 21 | 52 | -31 | 20 |
#3 FC Metz - Ligue 1
The first season after promotion is always difficult but Ligue 1 new boys FC Metz have fought bravely against the cream of French football throughout 2014/15. Nobody would begrudge Albert Cartier's side a slice of good fortune over the final weeks of the campaign.
Metz have won plenty of hearts this season, but their history of developing future world stars is what makes them stand out as one of the teams people tend to love. The academy production line boasts the likes of Robert Pires, Miralem Pjanic, Rigobert Song and Louis Saha to name just a few.
Back to matters this term, though, Metz's aggressive style and emphasis on attack has garnered plenty of plaudits. Despite sitting 19th in Ligue 1's possession table, according to WhoScored, last year's Ligue 2 champions are sitting in the top half for shots created.
A lack of genuine quality in the final third has led to a low return of goals, but that shouldn't detract from Metz's eagerness to get forward. In a division hardly renowned for its excitement, outside of the top two or three teams, it would be a huge disappointment if Les Grenats aren't present in 2015/16.
| # | Team | PLD | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | Toulouse | 34 | 11 | 6 | 17 | 36 | 53 | -17 | 39 |
| 15 | Caen | 34 | 10 | 8 | 16 | 46 | 51 | -5 | 38 |
| 16 | Lorient | 34 | 11 | 5 | 18 | 39 | 48 | -9 | 38 |
| 17 | Reims | 34 | 10 | 8 | 16 | 41 | 59 | -18 | 38 |
| 18 | Evian | 34 | 11 | 4 | 19 | 36 | 52 | -16 | 37 |
| 19 | Metz | 33 | 7 | 9 | 17 | 29 | 46 | -17 | 30 |
| 20 | RC Lens | 34 | 6 | 8 | 20 | 29 | 55 | -26 | 26 |
#2 Parma - Serie A
Sadly for cash-struck Parma, relegation from Serie A is almost confirmed. It's a sorry state of affairs at the Stadio Ennio Tardini and could signal the beginning of the end for an Italian giant.
The Crociati had finished sixth in 2013/14 before the extent of their financial problems became evident. Even before a ball was kicked, relegation seemed the most likely outcome for this season. Since then, the club have been forced into ending the contracts of star players such as Antonio Cassano whilst dozens more have been either sold or loaned out in a feeble attempt to ease the strain.
In fact, Parma were only allowed to continue playing until the end of this campaign after the other 19 Serie A teams offered a financial bailout. Nevertheless, their future beyond this ill-fated season is unstable at best.
On the pitch, Roberto Donadon's men continue to battle against adversity and have registered shock wins against the likes of Udinese and champions Juventus. In spite of these heroics, a seven-point deduction has cemented their fate weeks before the final ball is kicked.
No football fan likes to see clubs suffer this fate, especially when it's a team that provided so many great memories around the turn of the century. Unfortunately, visions of a star-studded Parma lifting two Coppa Italia trophies and a UEFA Cup couldn't be further from the pictures emanating out of the Emilia-Romagna region currently.
The Parma story has quickly soured into one of real sorrow and highlights the potentially devastating results of mismanagement.
| # | Team | PLD | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | Sassuolo | 32 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 39 | 49 | -10 | 36 |
| 16 | Empoli | 32 | 6 | 17 | 9 | 34 | 40 | -6 | 35 |
| 17 | Atalanta | 32 | 6 | 13 | 13 | 29 | 44 | -15 | 31 |
| 18 | Cagliari | 32 | 5 | 9 | 18 | 38 | 62 | -24 | 24 |
| 19 | Cesena | 32 | 4 | 11 | 17 | 29 | 56 | -27 | 23 |
| 20 | Parma* | 32 | 6 | 5 | 21 | 27 | 58 | -31 | 16 |
*Parma deducted 7 points due to financial irregularities
#1 Stuttgart - Bundesliga
German football has produced some truly phenomenal teams over the past few years, but one of Bundesliga's most loved clubs is in genuine threat of suffering its first relegation in 40 years. That is unless rock-bottom Stuttgart can produce something special in the concluding weeks of an extremely turbulent campaign.
The 2006/07 Bundesliga champions have toiled towards the division's drop zone for some time now, finishing 15th (out of 18) last year and have look destined for relegation after spending the majority of it rooted to the bottom. However, a recent revival has reignited hopes of survival for Huub Stevens' men and most would agree it would be a shame to see a team scoring so frequently go down.
The club has plied its trade in Germany's top flight since 1977 and no football fan, outside of their direct relegation rivals, would want to see that stay come to an end. In addition to being a club steeped in history, Stuttgart is also home to the fantastic Mercedes-Benz Arena. It would be nothing short of a football tragedy to see the stadium half full in Bundesliga II.
Seeing Borussia Dortmund fall away has been a difficult development; Stuttgart's potential relegation would underline a horrible season for advocates of German football.
| # | Team | PLD | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | Hertha Berlin | 30 | 9 | 7 | 14 | 34 | 46 | -12 | 34 |
| 14 | Freiburg | 30 | 6 | 12 | 12 | 31 | 41 | -10 | 30 |
| 15 | Hannover 96 | 30 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 33 | 51 | -18 | 29 |
| 16 | Hamburg | 30 | 7 | 7 | 16 | 19 | 46 | -27 | 28 |
| 17 | Paderborn | 30 | 6 | 10 | 14 | 27 | 58 | -31 | 28 |
| 18 | Stuttgart | 30 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 34 | 55 | -21 | 27 |
