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Top five teams of 2017/18


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Who do you think had the best season in europe, rank your top 5 teams based on their performance, how much have they entertained you and also the trophies (or league position).

Mine would be

1) Manchester City -  for playing great football and winning the league by breaking some records on their way to the title. Pep also shut some "pundits"  who claimed he couldnt win with the style he follows in premier league. They did spend a lot of money but that was partially to replace their aging squad, also I like the fact that their football style showed the worth of the money they spent. In other words, pep spent ferrari's worth and drove it like a ferrari but not like a double decker bus. 

2) Real Betis - They also played some great football and I watched most of their games this season. They also achieved a european spot and I guess thats a massive achievement for their size, someone with more knowledge about the spanish club finances can let us know more about their size part.

3) Barcelona - They havent played the best overall but Messi and Ter Stegen dragged them in good parts of the campaign, however them being almost invincibles and lost only one match which is a great achievement and ended their season with a double.

4) Burnley - I watched few games, not a lot but similar to Betis, them being in europe is a massive achievement

5) Napoli - Played great football like City and Betis for me  and were very close to winning the league up until the 35-36 weeks and I thought they were actually going to win it when the were leading against Juve up until the 85th minute but sadly they lost that match and Juve  didnt look back in the league from them. 

I would have put Real Madrid in the fifth spot instead of Napoli as they won the champions league but  they capitualted in the league way too early in the season and put all their eggs in one basket and also they are not an entertaining team to watch, but they got their job done in the CL with a little luck on their side. 

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  1. Manchester City
  2. FC Barcelona
  3. SSC Napoli

I can only make a top 3 because everything else has too many iffs and buts to be honest.  Even the top three has questions to be asked about them because both Man City and Barça should have serious questions put before them due to their capitulation in the Champions League especially Barcelona who entering a quarter-final second leg with a convincing scoreline difference of 4-1 should never end up being eliminated... Anyone can lose a game but with the immense amount of experience in their side where winning trophies is in question, you can't fold over and die the way they did.  But the reason they're in there and HAVE to be in there is that you have to put everything into perspective which we have to start with the way they begun the season in the Supercopa de España where they were annihilated by Real Madrid and then went onto go through practically the whole season undefeated in all competitions... One silly defeat in La Liga in the penultimate game (5-4 to Levante) and that shock capitulation in the Champions League to AS Roma is backed up by re-conquering La Liga by miles and doubling it up with the Copa del Rey.

Manchester City have literally been insatiable. They broke all sorts of records in the Premier League and did it with a brand of football that nobody can genuinely say it doesn't entertain.  I think it's a mark of a really gifted coach that he coaches three different sides and gets all three playing a particular brand of football that's rather unique.  Sometimes you wonder when a coach gets one team playing in a certain way by thinking if it's just a bit of luck by walking into a particular side with a particular set of talented players... But to do it with three sides leaves no doubts. One thing is doing things by closing up shop and another is by basing it on peppering your rivals defences.

You have to give it to Napoli no matter if they haven't been able to take that final step to winning things.  The difference between Juventus and Napoli in every scope of the imagination is MASSIVE!  You can't calculate every single minuscule detail of how different both clubs are and add to that the not so small issue of other clubs in and around Napoli in Serie 'A' that have untold more resources in all aspects to the Partenopean club.  Napoli have absolutely no institutional backing whatsoever and understanding Italian politics and social weight also goes a long way to understanding their football.  Sarri has done a marvellous job this season and any other year they'd have won the Scudetto.

As for other clubs that can come beneath those three... I mean... You have Real Madrid (the obvious choice) who have just conquered their THIRD CHAMPIONS LEAGUE IN A ROW... WOW! That's beyond incredible and to be massively respected.  But the question here isn't making a positional account of three years of football... The question is on the top teams this year.  You can't give credit to a club with the dimensions and resources Real Madrid has for winning a cup competition when the y capitulated in both La Liga and the Copa del Rey in a catastrophic manner.  I mean, they ended up 17 points behind the eventual champions and ended up behind their city rivals who were knocked out of the competition they won early on. 

That brings me to also mentioning Atlético Madrid who for me have had a superior season to the other side most will mention which is Liverpool.  Atlético Madrid started off the season indifferently where they looked out of character in terms of being very week at home for some reason (many blame the new stadium) and this hurt them in the Champions League where they were eliminated in the league stage and in La Liga they were up and down early on.  It took them until just before Christmas to get going but when they did they had almost three whole months of ripping sides apart and walked the Europa League... Plus they ended up in second place in La Liga only behind a sensational season by Barcelona and ahead of the eventual European Champions convincingly.  Infact Valencia should be included in these things as they were only 3 points behind Real Madrid in La Liga this season with all of their continuous issues which is tremendous and Marcelino should be commended.

Finally I come to Liverpool... Their final almost three months to the season entertained the arse off of everyone in Europe.  They were making consistent headlines in the European press every week with Salah & Co as the main culprits of insatiable manic attacking football.  But you can't really give Liverpool any particular position for failing massively in their league and doing very little else in the other domestic competitions.  That chaotic style of football is extremely entertaining but it has to be sorted out.  What I will say from my perspective is that it was wonderful to see such a historic club being in another European Cup Final (I use the old name of the competition because Liverpool are genuine legends as a club)... Liverpool genuinely belong in that competition and they have an aura about them in this perspective for me.  Liverpool are millimetres away from competing and their fans must be so looking forward to the future providing certain issues can be ironed out.

But how can you put a positional mark on all of that?

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15 minutes ago, Happy Blue said:

Easy, that Madrid team lost 4-1 to us less than a year ago

But they lost 4-1 to a club called Alcorcón in not too distant history mate. What are you trying to say?

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5 hours ago, SirBalon said:

Read through the three posts coupled with this latest answer and think what I may have made you walk into. xD;)

You have missed the point i was making mate, you are comparing a Ferrari to a ford mini van xD  ..which is ridiculous, you can not compare the two  ..i on the other hand was comparing two super cars and saying ours would win again ;)   ...the mini van might of got lucky with the Ferrari breaking down but come on now, keep it sensible! 

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21 minutes ago, Happy Blue said:

You have missed the point i was making mate, you are comparing a Ferrari to a ford mini van xD  ..which is ridiculous, you can not compare the two  ..i on the other hand was comparing two super cars and saying ours would win again ;)   ...the mini van might of got lucky with the Ferrari breaking down but come on now, keep it sensible! 

I just gave that analogy to a colleague at work who’s a PSG fan and he laughed his head off... I told him I’d made it up. O.oxD

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Just now, Eco said:

Atletico > Liverpool

One got kicked out of the Champions league whilst the other made it to the final. One plays boring, disguesting football whilst the other plays some of the best attacking football on the planet. 

I whole heartedly disagree. 

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2 minutes ago, Cicero said:

One got kicked out of the Champions league whilst the other made it to the final. One plays boring, disguesting football whilst the other plays some of the best attacking football on the planet. 

I whole heartedly disagree. 

One finished 4th in their respective league, while the other finished 2nd in their more difficult league AND ahead of the team that defeated Liverpool in the CL Final. 

Personally, I put more stock in the League than the CL,.

In terms of entertainment, Liverpool easily wins. 

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5 minutes ago, Eco said:

One finished 4th in their respective league, while the other finished 2nd in their more difficult league AND ahead of the team that defeated Liverpool in the CL Final. 

Personally, I put more stock in the League than the CL,.

In terms of entertainment, Liverpool easily wins. 

Then why is United not on your list? And more difficult league is debatable. 

Atletico won a trophy for getting kicked out of the Champions League whilst Liverpool were good enough to make the final. One of the many reasons why The Europa League is so flawed given that Atletico are now considered to have a better season than Liverpool because they got kicked out of a competition. 

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1 minute ago, Cicero said:

Then why is United not on your list? And more difficult league is debatable. 

Atletico won a trophy for getting kicked out of the Champions League whilst Liverpool were good enough to make the final. One of the many reasons why The Europa League is so flawed given that Atletico are now considered to have a better season than Liverpool because they got kicked out of a competition. 

No doubt it's debatable, but in terms of bigger teams, I think La Liga is the most difficult league to win. Real, Barca, Atletico, Sevilla, Valencia, Villareal, Real Betis...to me, are on a whole better teams than Man City, Man United, Tottenham, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arnseal, and Burnley (seriously just picked the top 7). 

And I have no arguments for the flaw in the EL, but the statement above was about trophies, and Atletico still have one, whereas Liverpool does not. 

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