The decided championships in Europe: Lack of competition or just a coincidence?

Last night’s match between Milan and Inter and the Nerazzurri’s 2:1 win was further proof of why they are the deserved champions of Serie A.

Simone Inzaghi’s men produced a near-perfect season in which they wiped out the intrigue at the top very early on and it was only a matter of time before they sealed their 20th Scudetto.

It was a similar situation last season, when Napoli showed very early that they are the best team in Italy, breaking a 33-year drought without a championship title.

The last three seasons in Serie A have been dedicated to three different champions.

This shows how serious the competition is after the end of Juventus hegemony. No wonder more contenders will intervene in the coming years, including a possible revival of the “Bianconeri”. Why shouldn’t teams like Roma, Lazio, Atalanta or Fiorentina, who are traditionally at the top, make a perfect season. Naturally, for such a thing, they also need fluctuations from the competition.

The convincing championship titles of Inter and Napoli would suggest a lack of competition if these trophies went to the same team. However, the variety is there.

Breaking Juventus’ hegemony was a breath of fresh air for Italian football. This season, the same thing happened in Germany.

The 11 consecutive titles of Bayern (Munich) were not in the interest of the Bundesliga.

Positive signs came as early as last campaign, although then Borussia (Dortmund) gave away the trophy in the last round. Now Xabi Alonso’s Bayer (Leverkusen) is unstoppable and secured a debut title in the strong league without a loss.

The triumph of a small town like Leverkusen is a story worth telling in the future, regardless of whether it will be repeated. It proves that in a club that works for many years with perseverance and ambition, the right formula is always found.

However, one other hegemony seems even more difficult to break and that is that of the French Ligue 1.

Paris Saint-Germain enjoys enormous financial comfort and has a significant advantage over the others, as it can even afford not to throw all its forces into the championship and still win it with ease. This arrogance led to the loss of two titles – to Monaco in 2017 and to Lille in 2021 – but now with Luis Enrique the team has secured a third in a row and a total of 13 in history.

PSG lead Monaco by 11 points with five rounds to go and the capital city will soon be crowned. Any break in their enduring dominance is also good news for Ligue 1 status and interest in the Championship. Like the Bundesliga, the task here looks very difficult, but the departure of Kylian Mbappe could help the cause.

Spanish football was quickly deprived of intrigue this year.

If there were any doubts until the end of last week, Real Madrid erased them with their dramatic El Clasico win, also pulling 11 points clear of Barcelona with six rounds to go.

Here, with few exceptions, the fight has always been between two contenders, and often continues to the very end. Real and Barca’s big lead over the rest (not in terms of points) is unlikely to change in the near future, even with the Catalans’ current financial problems.

Just as Real have been convincing this season, so were Xavi’s team last year. We never know what we will get and that makes the championship not only very high quality, but also very interesting.

The English Premier League is the only one of the majors that continues to hold the front.

The battle between three horses – Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal – is a luxury for neutral fans and something that the whole world enjoys. Leaving aside the fact that this interest is maintained and thanks to the compromised officiating on the Island, the quality football from the three teams will keep the eyes riveted until the very end.

The dominance of “citizens” in recent years has not managed to take away so much of the competition as to reduce interest. It is the most expensive product in club football and there will always be 5 or 6 teams with huge fan bases to support it.

Decided championships make this football year different.

As early as mid-April, that and even earlier, four of the big five leagues had a known winner. Such a thing happens extremely rarely.

While we were used to the dominance of Bayern and PSG, to have a decided champion in Italy and Spain so quickly in the same year is something different. This is of great service to the English, where the intrigue just before the end is at its height, and all the interest is transferred thither.

The synchronicity of the dominant teams can be considered more of a coincidence than a trend. As early as next season, we may witness completely different champions in each of these championships.