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We’re already 9 games into the EFL 1 season and already the league table is starting to take shape with the usual suspects sniffing around the top of the league AND towards the bottom of the league but after just under 25% of the season there sits two very unexpected figures at the top of the EFL 1 table.
Much like in the Premier League which sees the likes of Leeds United & Tottenham Hotspur lead the way ahead of the likes of Manchester City & Manchester United, EFL 1 is currently being led by FC Barcelona followed by Juventus on goal difference.
While there’s nothing to get excited about yet as there are still 29 more league games to play, the early favourites for the league title are off the pace.
Real Madrid, who are under new management in Ian Greaves, and PSG managed by controversial coach Simon Clarke were tipped to be fighting it out all season for the glory of being EFL 1 champions with Clark even going as far as challenging his team to be top of the tree from Round 1 all the way until Round 38 but unfortunately that dream was dashed after just the first round of fixtures as Real Madrid out scored PSG and everyone in a 8-0. win over AS Monaco.
Moving onto the other 8 league games so far and after a strong start, even the great Real Madrid struggled as they dropped points against the likes of Bayern Munich, Napoli & Fiorentina after draws against the Italians and a defeat against the Germans which currently leaves them 3rd, just 2 points from the summit while the ever confident team from Paris sit in 5th after 3, yes 3, defeats already this season and are currently on a 3 game winless run after an away draw to AS Monaco sandwiched between 1-0 home defeats against Sevilla and then bitter rivals Juventus.
PSG sit a whopping 6 points behind the two current leaders but some have hinted that Clarke’s men won’t be concerned how far behind Juventus & FC Barcelona they are but Real Madrid and that gap sits at just 4 points at the time of writing.
As for the two early pace setters who sit on 22 points from 27 available, some may have seen a strong start from Juventus however FC Barcelona would be the real surprise with Sam Bradwell, recently appointed, was over looked by many with his reputation in the transfer market leading pundits to predict a mid season melt down and fire sale of the first team squad.
The fire sale happened, not once but twice. Bradwell was quoted as saying he was happy with the team and the progression it had made under him this pre season but only weeks passed before the former Celtic, FC Porto, Newcastle, Feyenoord, Derby County, Atletic Bilbao manager started making wholesale changes.
In first came a wave of youth talents from S_Vos to C_Washington and just when the dust began to settle and people were predicting a rebuild at the Nou Camp, Bradwell sold them all within a week and is yet again claiming to be bigger, badder, faster & stronger before and of course…Happy with the progression of the squad.
Some have pointed to FC Barcelona’s relatively easy start to the season with the only difficult games to note were away to PSG which they lost and a round 1 tie against AC Milan where they recorded a 0-0 draw.
Can Bradwell and his current squad keep up this momentum? The odds aren’t in their favour as it seems they’ve not quite recovered from their dip into the youth market with experts claiming they lost a whopping £100,000,000 worth of player value in the deals involving S_Vos, C_Washington, M_Kayode and L_Querfeld.
Moving onto the team currently in 2nd place, mere goal difference away from the summit. Juventus.
After a quiet pre season which saw them waste the chance to sign defender M_Guehi from the much talked about NON FFO auction, an action which saw the 22 year old sign with Simon Clarke’s PSG instead, many were trying to weigh up if. Juventus would be a threat this season to those at the top of the table.
While some in Madrid & Paris laughed off Juventus manager Andy Banks’ pre season target to be in the titles race, others have taken it seriously and so far so good.
You would be forgiven for siding with the likes of Simon Clark & Ian Greaves who looked past the Italian team after not only missing out on M_Guehi but letting J_Timber sign with FC Barcelona and replacing him with a 36 year old Jordi_Alba who will retire come the end of the season but 9 games in and 7 wins has marked an impressive return after an off season of stagnation rather than improvement.
Juventus have the necessary funds to improve but the question is when? Earlier games within those first 9 would have had fans screaming at their tv that the team needed better quality as they slumped to a 2-1 defeat against Sporting Lisbon and then a 1-1 draw against SS Lazio, a team who were bottom and winless at the time (Nothing has changed!)
Between & after said games have come better results for the club with victories over Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich & most recently defending EFL Cup & Champions League winners PSG. These results have seen them climb the table after their early season stumbles and has them within touching distance of top spot come Friday.
It won’t be an easy task as they face an impressive Rangers team who currently sit 7th, in a Champions League place above the likes of Celtic, AS Roma, Bayern Munich & Atletico Madrid.
We have spoken to Juventus manager Andy Banks about his team’s fast start to the league campaign and what he expects from the upcoming games;
“Look it’s only 9 games. Yes we’ve had some impressive results in those 9 but look at the 2 we didn’t win. Those games are the ones that stick out to me, not the so called great wins against mismanaged squads.
If we’re in this position after 29 games then come back and speak to me but we have many many games left to play and anything can happen in football.
A run of poor results can take you down from 1st to 5th, just ask PSG. They were top and riding high not long ago now but after just 1 point from the last 9 available they sit 5th and looking over their shoulders at teams like Rangers & Sevilla.
We’ve had a relatively relaxed start to the season so that will change of course and our bubble will burst I’m sure of it.
We know that we still want to be up there but we see ourselves chasing the top teams rather than leading them so we’ll enjoy our time up here for now but just take it 1 game at a time.
As for the other competitions that were involved in or WERE involved in, we need to find some form especially in the competition that we remain in, the Champions League, as we sit on just 1 point from the first 2 games with tough games on the horizon against last years losing finalists Real Madrid.
We’re out of the EFL Cup at the round 2 stage at the hands of a rebuilding AS Roma team and that was hard to take given it was on penalties but we have to make sure we turn things around in Europe as heading out of the competition at the group stage would be nothing short of embarrassing for us.
Finally, the team that sits above us, FC Barcelona. Many have asked and wondered how long they’ll last in this rich vein of form and much like Juventus, I don’t see it standing the test of time.
Too much change within the squad and a lack of quality in the management department has led managers over the last few weeks to look forwards to facing them, however most have gone away empty handed so far so Sam might be onto something. But I doubt it.
In the next 10 games or so, once everyone has played everyone else the table will settle down and we’ll see the real picture and I’d put my money on us being a few spots lower and FC Barcelona being 6th-8th with us all looking up at PSG & Real Madrid as they battle it out for top spot.”