Most surprising winners of European leagues in the 21st century
Can Claudio Ranieri and Jamie Vardy lead Leicester to an improbable title win?the 2015-16 season has been a weird one as far major European football leagues are concerned. While Leicester City is mounting an incredibly unbelievable challenge for the EPL crown, just a point separates the top three teams in the Serie A and neither reigning Champions Juventus nor the runners-up A.S Roma are part of the trio.While in Spain, Atletico Madrid has steadfastly continued to prevent the La Liga from being turning out into a two-horse race between Real Madrid and Barcelona.However, with the season just crossing the halfway mark, which of these pretenders can sustain the challenge till the end? Remember the 08-09 Bundesliga season which saw the newly promoted Hoffenheim lead the table up to the mid-season mark before finishing 7th?This list takes a look at those instances when an outsider was able to successfully sustain a major European league title challenge till the very end and eventually win it.P.S: Only the clubs from England, Italy, Germany and Spain have been considered for the same.
#1 AS Roma- 2001 Serie A
A.S Roma have been a heavyweight of Italian football for a long time. However, winning the league has never been their strong point and they have often been described as the bridesmaids of the Serie A.
Case in point– Roma has 14 runners-up medals across all Italian competitions from 2000. No team in any league across Europe has come close to achieving such an unflattering record.
The millennium could not have started worse for the Giallorossi as they witnessed their eternal rivals Lazio snatch the 1999-00 Serie A title by leapfrogging Juventus on the final day of the season. The consternation of the fans forced the hands of the management and a desperate bid was launched to land the crown the next season.
The masterstroke was none other than luring Argentine goal scoring machine Gabriel Batistuta from a reluctant Fiorentina. The 32.5 million Euro transfer fee still stands as the largest for a player above the age of 30.
The start of the season wasn’t ideal in any way as Roma struggled for form and faced a first round exit from the Coppa Italia. The low point was the Ultras attacking players’ cars at their Trigoria training complex.
But Fabio Capello’s 3-4-1-2 formation slowly started bearing fruit and with club captain Francesco Totti operating behind the forward duo of Batistuta and Vincenzo Montella, ‘I Lupi’ became one of the most exciting sides in Europe. The front line was ably assisted by the likes of Emerson, Walter Samuel and Vincent Candella and the Eternal City Derby victory over Champions Lazio underlined their title ambitions.
The forward trio would score 47 goals between them and Roma raced away from Juventus and Lazio in the title race. However, four draws in six games leading up to the last game of the season meant that they only led Juve by two points heading into a tricky finale against Parma.
Fittingly, goals from Batistuta, Totti and Montella ensured that there was no last match heartbreak as Roma ran out 3-1 victors at the Stadio Olympico to land their first title since 1982 and only their third overall. Fittingly, Roma topped the charts for most wins, most goals scored and best goal difference.
Roma would finish a three-way race for the title in second place the next year, losing out to Juventus after both overtaking Inter Milan on the final day.
Sadly, they would never win the Scudetto again.