The European football season is ending – but rather than offering excitement and tension, the same teams keep winning titles.
Statistics show that the teams ending as champions in each league have taken the title 25 times out of 30 competitions– and the runners up in each league have grabbed most of the other titles or filled the second or third places in other years.
And the gulf between the top teams in each league and their rivals is growing.
The average points gap between first and second is 14 points.
These teams tend to have the wealthiest financial backers and cream off the biggest share of income from TV rights, which ensures they have stay near the top of football’s rich list.
The result is top players sign for them because they play in the Champions League each year and pay the best wages.
Record breakers
This has become a self-perpetuating cycle which allows the clubs to maintain their league status and making their competitions a procession rather than a contest.
The rest are playing for crumbs off the top table and many teams have no chance of ever winning their league or a trophy.
Barcelona have won Spain’s La Liga with a game to play with a haul of 90 points against second-placed Atletico Madrid’s 78.
Manchester City have broken all records in the English Premier League, scoring more than 106 goals and amassing 100 points – 88% of all the available 114 points.
And it’s the same story in France, Germany and Italy.
Paris St Germain have taken the La Ligue title five times since 2011-12, Bayern Munich have topped the Bundesliga six years in a row and Juventus have collected the Serie A title for the seventh year running.
How they finished 2017-18
La Liga | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | Possible points | % achieved | |
1 | Barcelona | 37 | 27 | 9 | 1 | 98 | 29 | 69 | 90 | 114 | 78.95% |
2 | Atletico | 37 | 23 | 9 | 5 | 56 | 20 | 36 | 78 | 114 | 68.42% |
La Ligue 1 | |||||||||||
1 | PSG | 37 | 29 | 5 | 3 | 108 | 29 | 79 | 92 | 114 | 80.70% |
2 | Monaco | 37 | 23 | 8 | 6 | 82 | 45 | 37 | 77 | 114 | 67.54% |
EPL | |||||||||||
1 | Man C | 38 | 32 | 4 | 2 | 106 | 27 | 79 | 100 | 114 | 87.72% |
2 | Man U | 38 | 25 | 6 | 7 | 68 | 28 | 40 | 81 | 114 | 71.05% |
Bundesliga | |||||||||||
1 | Bayern Munich | 34 | 27 | 3 | 4 | 92 | 28 | 64 | 84 | 114 | 73.68% |
2 | FC Schalke 04 | 34 | 18 | 9 | 7 | 53 | 37 | 16 | 63 | 114 | 55.26% |
Serie A | |||||||||||
1 | Juventus | 37 | 29 | 5 | 3 | 84 | 23 | 61 | 92 | 114 | 80.70% |
2 | Napoli | 37 | 27 | 7 | 3 | 75 | 28 | 47 | 88 | 114 | 77.19% |
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