The dust is just about settling on an enthralling 2018/19 season across Europe – and there’s been plenty of highs and lows for clubs and individuals.
Manchester City and Liverpool played out an epic battle for the Premier League crown in England, while Borussia Dortmund went toe to toe with Bavarian behemoths Bayern Munich in Germany, even though it looks like they’ll come up just short.
Juventus proved their enduring class in Italy, where they will hoist a record-extending eighth Scudetto. Likewise, in France, where Paris Saint-Germain lifted a sixth league crown in the last seven years. Meanwhile, in Spain, Barcelona also continued their recent dominance by winning an eighth La Liga title in the last 11 years.
But while there is much to celebrate, there are also plenty of shaking heads too. Just who has disappointed the most this term. We pick out our top five underperformers from Europe’s top five leagues.
MANCHESTER UNITED
WHAT. A. MESS. You might well have thought United had been slowly stumbling toward a painful demise ever since the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson retired.
But in 2018/19 that decline rapidly accelerated. Things looked bleak in pre-season when, on the cusp of his dreaded third year in charge – the point at which disaster sets in at all his other clubs – Jose Mourinho appeared to be writing this season off before it had started.
He criticised the World Cup, a lack of transfer activity, youngsters he’d picked for the summer tour of America and even Anthony Martial’s new-born baby as things he was irked by.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer came in after Mourinho was eventually jettisoned in December and corrected the ship – the Norwegian’s run of 14 wins and just one defeat in his first 17 games was arguably the brightest period since Fergie retired.
But a tumultuous end to the campaign has brought to light just how much of a shambles the club is really in. Ole’s at the wheel, but can he steer the club off its current course towards utter disaster?
REAL MADRID
Zinedine Zidane is back at the Santiago Bernabeu, but he has his work cut out.
Another big club in a Real mess. Barcelona’s continued dominance of La Liga masks the increasing fragility of an aging squad, which was brutally exposed by Liverpool in the Champions League semi-finals. And yet, despite how much the Blaugrana have regressed, Los Blancos remain on course to finish more points adrift of their great rivals than the 17 (they are currently 18 behind) they trailed behind a year ago.
Cristiano Ronaldo was the superhuman glue that somehow held this creaking ship together over the last three seasons but, with him gone, Real have sunk completely.
The ugliness of Julen Lopetegui’s exit from the national team job to take over from Zinedine Zidane didn’t bode well. And, after he was dispensed with, it became clear Santiago Solari was just a stop-gap. Even the fanfare over Zidane’s return quickly dissipated as he’s overseen just five wins in 10 games.
Karim Benzema has been the sole shining light in a season during which even ‘old faithful’, the Champions League, couldn’t save them, as the old masters were blown away by Ajax’s young guns.
SCHALKE
Domenico Tedesco and Schalke sunk after a memorable 2017/18 campaign.
Schalke have had a shocker. After hitting the heady heights of second in the Bundesliga a year ago, it’s been a season of struggle for the Gelsenkirchen-based club.
Rookie Italian coach Domenico Tedesco was revered in Germany’s North Rhine district when he led Schalke to runners-up spot behind Bayern Munich and the semi-finals of the DFB Pokal in his first season. But he was sacked in March following an 10-2 aggregate defeat to Manchester City in the Champions League round of 16.
From second, Schalke have unfathomably slipped to relegation contenders. They’ll avoid the ignominy of a relegation play-off as they’re five points clear of 16th-placed Stuttgart with a game to go. But, currently 15th, they’ve never finished lower than 14th in the 28 seasons they’ve featured in Germany’s top-flight.
REAL BETIS
Quique Setien has endured a poor second half of the season at Betis.
Quique Setien was being primed for a Barcelona blazer when his Betis side blew the Blaugrana away with a virtuoso display at the Camp Nou back in November.
A 4-3 triumph had vibrant Los Verdiblancos riding high in La Liga and the Benito Villamarin faithful dreaming of an even more glorious campaign than the one Setien led them to in 2017/18, when they finished sixth and qualified for the Europa League.
Hopes were high that Setien’s stylish play could land them just a second bite at the Champions League in the club’s history, and first in 13 years. But after that brilliant Barca display, their season has taken a bizarre twist, victorious in just nine of their ensuing 25 league games.
They’re 13 points worse off than a year ago and are likely to finish 10th, while they crashed out of Europe at the last 32 stage to Rennes despite condemning AC Milan to a Europa League group stage exit.
FULHAM
Claudio Ranieri was sacked in February after just three wins in 16 games.
A little harsh to put Fulham here for going straight back down after only gaining Premier League promotion a year ago?
Maybe, maybe not. Simply being relegated is not why they feature.
The Cottagers spent a huge amount of cash last summer in order to set up home in England’s elite. But they struggled to settle from the off and many of their eye-catching acquisitions were flops – while they ended their campaign with former player Scott Parker as their third manager of the season.
Incredibly, Fulham were the third-highest Premier League spenders last summer, forking out £105.3m – becoming the first newly-promoted club to smash the £100m mark in a window.
They outspent the likes of United, City and Arsenal and yet failed to get out of the relegation zone after they were put there following a 4-2 defeat at Cardiff on October 20.
