5 things we didn't expect from the start of the 2015/16 season

Football. Bloody hell!,opined Sir Alex Ferguson, all those years back, after his teams famous Champions League triumph in 1999. The great, old veteran had seen everything the game had to offer. He had been there, done that. Yet, football has this habit of making a mockery of our predictions and chewing them up, spitting them out and trampling on them. The beginning of the 2015/16 season has been no different, with drama and surprises aplenty.Jose Mourinhos ill-advised clash with his medical team, John Terrys sudden dip in form, Udinese beating Juventus, Xherdan Shaqiris sensational transfer to Stoke City... I could go on and on. Yet, the season has only begun. And that is the beauty of this game. After all, it isnt called the beautiful game for nothing.Without further ado, we take a look at the five big surprises from the start of the 2015/16 season.

#5 Chelsea shipping 7 goals in 3 games

Chelsea have already conceded half the number of goals they did in Mourinho’s entire 2004/05 title-winning campaign

Before their opening match of the new campaign, nobody questioned Chelsea’s pedigree. They knew the Blues had what it took to defend the title at a canter. With a supremely talented attacking unit featuring the likes of Diego Costa, Eden Hazard and now, Pedro Rodriguez, it was a question of how easily Chelsea would win matches, and not if they would. And this certainty came from the solidity of their imposing defence.

In Branislav Ivanovic, they had the league’s best full-back in their unit. In Gary Cahill and John Terry, they arguably had the best defensive pairing in the country. And in Cesar Azpilicueta, they had a solid, dependable player who was a Mourinho favourite.

However, things have unravelled, and rapidly. Ivanovic has been made to look like a lost schoolkid by Jefferson Montero and Raheem Sterling. John Terry has been hauled off during a game for the first time under Mourinho, and dismissed the very next game. Nemanja Matic has lost the presence he had in front of the defence last year.

The Blues have already conceded 7 goals in the league, with 4 of them being conceded to the likes of Swansea and West Bromwich Albion. It is time for them to take a long, hard look at themselves.

#4 The quickfire resurgence of Borussia Dortmund

Borussia Dortmund are currently top of the Bundesliga without conceding a goal

Jurgen Klopp departed Borussia Dortmund as a proud yet broken man. He had to pull the club out of the relegation mire and somehow managed to drag them into a Europa League spot on the back of a good start to the New Year. However, Kloppo knew it was time to depart, and he promptly did, with Thomas Tuchel being appointed his successor.

Tuchel oversaw a radical change in the setup of the team over the summer. The promising youngster Julian Weigl has been preferred over the more brute Sven Bender, Sokratis Papasthathapoulos has been preferred over the more physical Neven Subotic (even though the latter is injured), and the team has shunned its excessive reliance on long balls in favour of short, compact passing.

By eschewing their predominantly counter-attacking philosophy in favour of more possession based football, Tuchel’s men have set an early season marker. While they may not be able to catch up with Bayern Munich just yet, they have certainly made an encouraging start to life post-Klopp. Their 4-0 thrashings of Borussia Monchengladbach and Ingolstadt 04 are more than enough evidence of this.

#3 The red-hot form of Riyad Mahrez

Riyad Mahrez has scored 4 goals in 3 games

Truth be told, Claudio Ranieri’s appointment as the new gaffer of Leicester City didn’t inspire much confidence among the Foxes faithful. However, the veteran is now enjoying a wave of a feel-good factor which resonates around the club as they have won two and drawn one of their three fixtures so far. And, they haven’t achieved this through shutting up shop; they have played free flowing, all-guns-blazing football, which has been easy on the eye.

At the heart, or rather, on the wings, of this remarkable transformation by the Foxes is the Algerian international Riyad Mahrez. The midfielder has been in sensational form, having already scored 4 goals in 3 games, a remarkable feat for a midfielder of a mid-sized club.

His partnership with the Japanese forward, Shinji Okazaki, and his gung-ho, direct approach, has been a treat to watch, making Leicester the neutrals’ favourites for the final Europa League spot already.

And if they are to do so, then the hot-heeled winger has to stand out and deliver performances such as the ones he has put up against Sunderland, West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur for the rest of the campaign.

#2 Athletic Bilbao thrash FC Barcelona

Athletic Bilbao beat Barcelona 5-1 on aggregate to win the Spanish Super Cup

Aritz Aduriz is the Rickie Lambert of Spanish football. The 34-year-old striker, who has been a very late bloomer, is in the form of his life right now. And his best career performance, arguably, came against the sextuple chasing Barcelona in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup final.

Leading the line for the Basque outfit at San Mames, Aduriz ran riot over the Bilbao pitch, scoring a hat-trick, as the Los Leones gave Barcelona a drubbing like no other. Nobody saw this coming; not even the die hard Athletic fans. After all, it was the world’s best club they were facing. After all, it was Lionel Messi and Co they were facing.

The score was believable; not the sides they were assigned to, though. Ernesto Valverde’s men were soaking it in – it was an otherworldly result. Barcelona never recovered. Not even in the second leg, where the only noteworthy incident was the dismissal of Gerard Pique, for firing off a few choice expletives at one of the match officials.

Aduriz may never play for his country again. He may not even be taken into reckoning for a friendly match. But the striker can always take solace and be proud about that eventful night at San Mames to end a 31-year-old trophy drought.

#1 Manchester United lose out on both Pedro and Nicolas Otamendi

Pedro snubbed Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United to join Chelsea and play under Jose Mourinho

If Manchester United had had their way, they would have signed Gareth Bale, Sergio Ramos, Mats Hummels and Neymar, in addition to Pedro and Nicolas Otamendi. But, such is the lack of tact shown by Ed Woodward at times, no imminent deal involving United is ever certain, unless and until pen is put on paper. The way they let the former Barcelona winger and the ex-Valencia centre back slip through their fingers, is enough and more testament to this.

The ‘Pedro to United’ saga was such a long and protracted one that even the most optimistic of fans knew that something simply had to go wrong. But the hawk-like manner in which Chelsea swooped in and took him off to West London should serve as a tough to stomach, yet enlightening, lesson for the Red Devils. And while the club was reeling from the disappointment of having lost their target, then came the next bad news.

Neighbours Manchester City slyly stole a march on United and completed a move for Otamendi that was slicker than the Argentine’s beard. In one, or rather, two swift motions, two of United’s long-term targets had been plucked out of thin air by title rivals. Ouch.