Page 8 - Soccer360 Issue 105

2024
TITLE RACES
THRILLING
FINALS
AWAIT
BY THE TIME SPRING COMES AROUND, FOOTBALL FANS ACROSS EUROPE ARE USUALLY GETTING READY TO WITNESS A FAMILIAR PATTERN
OF ONE OF THE BIG TEAMS IN THEIR LEAGUE
PREPARING TO RUN AWAY WITH THE TITLE. BUT
THIS SEASON IS LOOKING LIKE IT COULD BE A T LITTLE DIFFERENT, AS DAN ROBERTS EXPLAINS.
to look forward to. But things are beginning to change - and this season
could see some more unfamiliar faces lifting silverware. Competition is vital for any football league to maintain interest and the big four of Europe have tended to serve up a lukewarm version of that in recent years. Napoli blasting away from the rest in Serie A to win a first title for over 30 years last season was a very welcome development
here have always been bigger, more successful clubs in all of the major European leagues. But in recent decades, the influx of greater amounts of broadcasting money has meant that those sides have been even more dominant. Title races have tended to be a formality most years, with a two-horse race invariably the most that the majority of fans can have
8
SOCCER360
Arsenal’s goal by Leandro Trossard against Burnley was the club’s 1,000th
at the Emirates Stadium, making Arsenal one of only three Premier League clubs to score 1,000 goals at a single venue since the 2006/07 season.