The 20-21 season was expected to be a gloomy one due to the pandemic – which restricted the audience in all the leagues, clubs experienced a significant dip in revenues, no game-changing transfers – however, the action on the field remained as entertaining as ever across Europe’s top leagues. Here we rank the five most competitive leagues.
Premier League
The English top-flight has been at the top of the pyramid for a while and continues to be so this season as well. Although Manchester City have taken a well-established lead at the top of the table – probably the favourites to lift the title, the top-four race is heating up as we reach the business end of the season. Of the premier League’s revered six, Tottenham, Arsenal and Liverpool have been thrown out of the equation, with the latter surprisingly fallen from grace. Leicester City continue to be solid under Brendan Rodgers and they are on course to seal their spot in the Champions League. Manchester United are slowly returning to their glory days as they are currently second in the table while Chelsea appear to have revived under Thomas Tuchel. The most interesting aspect of this season is the rise of dark horses West Ham United, who are fifth in the table – tied on points with Chelsea.
Just one match day-before…
| Rank | Team | Match | Win | Loss | GD | Points |
| 1 | Man City | 33 | 24 | 4 | 45 | 77 |
| 2 | Man Utd | 33 | 19 | 4 | 29 | 67 |
| 3 | Leicester | 33 | 19 | 9 | 22 | 62 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 33 | 16 | 7 | 20 | 58 |
| 5 | West Ham | 33 | 16 | 10 | 10 | 55 |
| 6 | Liverpool | 33 | 15 | 9 | 16 | 54 |
Serie A
Serie A witnessed a whirlwind season as both Milan clubs have shown their renaissance after a long time while perennial winners Juventus have fallen massively. AC Milan enjoyed a great run in the first half but jinxed it completely to allow their rivals Inter Milan to climb ahead of them. Antonio Conte’s side are ten points clear at the top of the table but the interesting fact is that the following teams are being separated by only a few points. Juventus and Atalanta are tied at 65 points in third place and fourth place, with the latter making a surge after a fluctuating first half. Napoli and Lazio are also in contention for the top four race if they win the rest of their games.
Just one match day-before…
| Rank | Team | Match | Win | Loss | GD | Points |
| 1 | Inter | 33 | 24 | 2 | 43 | 79 |
| 2 | Atalanta | 33 | 20 | 5 | 39 | 68 |
| 3 | Napoli | 33 | 21 | 9 | 36 | 66 |
| 4 | Juventus | 33 | 19 | 5 | 35 | 66 |
| 5 | AC Milan | 33 | 20 | 7 | 19 | 66 |
| 6 | Lazio | 32 | 19 | 9 | 10 | 61 |
La Liga
As far La Liga is concerned, this season, as expected, is dominated by the big three Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid but the surprising thing is the Atletico are leading the pile and look to end the duopoly of Real and Barca. Diego Simeone’s side have been clinical from the beginning and also benefited from the shaky starts of Real and Barca. However, things can’t be taken lightly as the Catalan club and Madrid have enjoyed a late surge, coinciding with Atletico’s unusual slip. With only five points separating these three clubs while Barca have left a game in hand, the title race is expected to be a nail-biting one. Sevilla have maintained their impressive run under Julen Lopetegui as they are fourth in the table, seventeen points ahead of the fifth-place Real Sociedad.
Just one match day-before…
| Rank | Team | Match | Win | Loss | GD | Points |
| 1 | Atletico Madrid | 33 | 22 | 4 | 38 | 73 |
| 2 | Real Madrid | 33 | 21 | 4 | 32 | 71 |
| 3 | Barcelona | 32 | 22 | 5 | 47 | 71 |
| 4 | Sevilla | 33 | 22 | 7 | 23 | 70 |
| 5 | Real Sociedad | 33 | 14 | 8 | 17 | 53 |
| 6 | Real Betis | 33 | 14 | 11 | -3 | 50 |
Bundesliga
Bundesliga have experienced a drastic shift with the likes of Frankfurt, Wolfsburg competing for the Champions League spot, throwing away the likes of Dortmund, Leverkusen and Borussia Monchengladbach. Bayern Munich are as dominant as ever at the top of the mountain, while Leipzig continue to be their understudy in second place. Erling Haaland has been a spectacle with his goal-scoring form but Dortmund are a disappointment on whole. Frankfurt are the party-spoilers, with the likes of Filipe Kostic and Andre Silva shining in the attack and continue to be a menace to the defence.
| Rank | Team | Match | Win | Loss | GD | Points |
| 1 | Bayern Munich | 31 | 22 | 4 | 46 | 71 |
| 2 | RB Leipzig | 31 | 19 | 5 | 30 | 64 |
| 3 | Wolfsburg | 31 | 16 | 6 | 22 | 57 |
| 4 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 31 | 15 | 5 | 15 | 56 |
| 5 | Borussia Dortmund | 31 | 17 | 10 | 24 | 55 |
| 6 | Bayer Leverkusen | 31 | 14 | 9 | 16 | 50 |
Ligue 1
PSG are at the risk of losing their Ligue 1 title as they are trailing Lille by one point in second place. Lille have punched above their weight in the last two seasons and now they look to end PSG’s dominance, who have been fluctuating under Mauricio Pochettino this season. Monaco have made amendments for their last season’s fiasco, credit has to be given to manager Niko Kovac, who took on the onus and brought Monaco, currently third in the table, back to where they belong. Lyon follow them at fourth place. Marseille, who had a barren run in the Champions League in the group stage earlier this season, are currently fifth in the Ligue 1 table.
| Rank | Team | Match | Win | Loss | GD | Points |
| 1 | Lille | 34 | 21 | 3 | 35 | 73 |
| 2 | PSG | 34 | 23 | 8 | 51 | 72 |
| 3 | Monaco | 34 | 22 | 7 | 33 | 71 |
| 4 | Lyon | 34 | 19 | 4 | 32 | 67 |
| 5 | Lens | 34 | 15 | 9 | 8 | 56 |
| 6 | Marseille | 34 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 55 |
Competitiveness Ranking of the Top 5 Football Leagues
If we consider variation of top four teams in terms of different in points in league table,
| League | Top-4 Points Range | Top-6 Points Range |
| La Liga | 3 | 23 |
| Ligue 1 | 6 | 18 |
| Serie A | 13 | 18 |
| Bundesliga | 15 | 21 |
| Premier League | 19 | 23 |
Similarly, ranking considering top six teams will be little different.
