We’re at, near, or past the midway points of the season for the top five leagues in Europe, and only two look like complete runaways.
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Let’s face it: the ideas that unbeaten Juventus blowing a nine-point lead over Napoli or Paris Saint-Germain would throw away a 13-point lead (with two matches-in-hand!!) is absurd.
But will Borussia Dortmund, Liverpool, and/or Barcelona hold on to multi-win leads atop their respective tables? Let’s dissect this a little bit.
Bundesliga
| Team | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Home | Away | PTS |
| Borussia Dortmund | 17 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 44 | 18 | 26 | 8-1-0 | 5-2-1 | 42 |
| Bayern Munich | 17 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 36 | 18 | 18 | 4-3-1 | 7-0-2 | 36 |
| Mönchengladbach | 17 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 36 | 18 | 18 | 8-0-0 | 2-3-4 | 33 |
| RB Leipzig | 17 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 31 | 17 | 14 | 7-2-0 | 2-2-4 | 31 |
| VfL Wolfsburg | 17 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 27 | 22 | 5 | 3-3-3 | 5-1-2 | 28 |
| Eintracht Frankfurt | 17 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 34 | 23 | 11 | 4-1-3 | 4-2-3 | 27 |
Niko Kovac’s first season at Bayern Munich has not gone according to plan, though the Bavarians have climbed back to within six points of leaders Borussia Dortmund.
The big match between the two clubs is April 6 at Bayern’s Allianz Arena, and Bayern has taken two of three matches between the pair this season. Bayern last lost a home league match to BVB in 2014, and has won the last six titles.
The pressure on BVB will be immense as the season moves toward May, and incredibly FiveThirtyEight’s forecasting model has Bayern with a 65 percent chance to win the league.
Serie A
| Team | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Home | Away | PTS |
| Juventus | 19 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 38 | 11 | 27 | 9-1-0 | 8-1-0 | 53 |
| Napoli | 19 | 14 | 2 | 3 | 37 | 17 | 20 | 8-2-0 | 6-0-3 | 44 |
| Inter Milan | 19 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 31 | 14 | 17 | 7-1-1 | 5-2-3 | 39 |
On one hand, Napoli hosts Juve in their second match of the Serie A season. On the other, Juve just wins everything every darn year and would likely have to drop 10 more points than the Neapolitans the rest of the way. FiveThirtyEight says it’s a 92 percent likelihood Juve wins again.
Ligue 1
| Team | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Home | Away | PTS |
| Paris SG | 17 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 50 | 10 | 40 | 9-0-0 | 6-2-0 | 47 |
| Lille | 19 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 29 | 19 | 10 | 6-3-1 | 4-1-4 | 34 |
| Lyon | 18 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 30 | 21 | 9 | 6-2-2 | 3-3-2 | 32 |
Hahaha. Hahahahah. Hahahahahahahaha.
Yeah, just let PSG have the second half of the season off to focus on the UEFA Champions League. FiveThirtyEight has it at better than 99 percent.
La Liga
| Team | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Home | Away | PTS |
| Barcelona | 18 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 50 | 20 | 30 | 6-2-1 | 6-2-1 | 40 |
| Atlético Madrid | 18 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 26 | 13 | 13 | 7-2-0 | 2-6-1 | 35 |
| Sevilla | 18 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 31 | 18 | 13 | 6-2-1 | 3-4-2 | 33 |
| Alavés | 18 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 21 | 18 | 3 | 5-4-0 | 4-0-5 | 31 |
| Real Madrid | 18 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 26 | 23 | 3 | 6-1-2 | 3-2-4 | 30 |
| Betis | 18 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 21 | 21 | 0 | 4-3-2 | 3-2-4 | 26 |
| Getafe | 18 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 19 | 15 | 4 | 4-1-4 | 2-6-1 | 25 |
The draw between Atleti and Sevilla on Sunday is just the latest nice moment for Barcelona’s title hopes, as the Blaugranas boast a five-point lead on the field and a 10-point advantage on traditional rivals Real Madrid.
Really, though, the title could be sorted in a one-week stretch in late February and early March. After a Champions League first leg at Lyon, Barca goes to Sevilla and Real Madrid on back-to-back league weekends. Win both, and call it a season. It’s 86 percent for Barcelona, according to FiveThirtyEight, with three teams boasting single-digit hopes.
Premier League
| Team | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Home | Away | PTS |
| Liverpool | 21 | 17 | 3 | 1 | 49 | 10 | 39 | 9-1-0 | 8-2-1 | 54 |
| Manchester City | 21 | 16 | 2 | 3 | 56 | 17 | 39 | 10-0-1 | 6-2-2 | 50 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 21 | 16 | 0 | 5 | 46 | 21 | 25 | 6-0-3 | 10-0-2 | 48 |
| Chelsea | 21 | 13 | 5 | 3 | 38 | 16 | 22 | 6-4-1 | 7-1-2 | 44 |
| Arsenal | 21 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 46 | 31 | 15 | 8-2-1 | 4-3-3 | 41 |
| Manchester United | 21 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 43 | 32 | 11 | 6-3-1 | 5-2-4 | 38 |
We saved the best for last (with apologies to BVB and Bayern).
Four of the Top Six — no Manchester United is not really in the discussion — are still alive in the Champions League, and both Chelsea and Arsenal know they can qualify for the UCL via the Europa League crown (how about a UEL final together, draw fixers?).
Yes, Liverpool has lost back-to-back games, but they don’t play Man City again and didn’t use most of their best talents in Monday’s FA Cup loss at Wolves.
The idea that the Reds will drop four more points than Man City isn’t insane, but there are few really tricky stretches for Liverpool. They’ll face Bayern Munich and Manchester United in a five-day February span, but get Spurs and Chelsea at home.
Man City has Arsenal, Spurs, and Chelsea at home, with the Manchester Derby away, a favorable mix, while Spurs host Man Utd and Arsenal while traveling to City, Liverpool, and Chelsea (the last one Sunday on NBCSN and online via NBCSports.com).
Put another way — and barring a prolonged injury issue — Liverpool losing a hold of their first PL title would be a legitimate choke job, to the tune of a Reds title being 73 percent according to FiveThirtyEight.com.
