The journey was long, tough and full of drama and those that emerged as league leaders have mother luck to thank

Football, to many who are familiar with the sport, is full of wonder and surprise, suspense and unpredictability. This much was on full display on May 13, when the last match of the English Premiership came underway at the Etihad Stadium, England. 

On that day, Manchester City were up against Queens Park Rangers. On paper, this wasn’t going to pose a problem for Manchester City. The team was the leading side in the English Premiership. Queens Park Rangers (QPR for short), on the other hand, was one of the teams battling relegation. It was a match that Manchester City needed to win to become champions of England. QPR, on its part, needed to earn at least a draw to avoid dropping to the lower division. It seemed more like a game between two unequals, a giant and a Lilliputian.

But those who expected an easy victory for Manchester City, were soon disappointed. Although Manchester City was the first to score, the tide soon changed. QPR later equalised and, to the shock of City fans, even took the lead. This was inspite of its numerical disadvantage of playing 10 against 11, having had one of its players sent off. A hush suddenly descended upon Etihad Stadium, with shock and disbelief written on Manchester City fans’ faces. Attempts by the club to equalise came to nought even right up to the end of 90 minutes regulation time. Many ManCity fans, whether in Etihad stadium or elsewhere, by now, had given up hope. Unknown to them, a miracle was underway. First, the referee added five extra minutes. Then came a corner kick.  Edin Dzeko, the tall Bosnian striker who had earlier come in as a substitute for Manchester City, got his head to it and nodded home the ball. A flicker of hope indeed, but how much longer was left of the match? But this was football, where anything is possible. This unpredictable side of the game soon showed itself when, in the twinkle of an eye, Sergio Aguero got the ball, waltzed past Taiye Taiwo and then smashed home the winner. The stadium erupted in ecstacy. It was incredible. Two goals within three minutes. Manchester City had won the league, the first time in 44 years that it would achieve such feat. This amazing turnaround was described by one commentator as “the most dramatic ending in living history.”

Manchester City’s victory was made possible by the glut of talent at its disposal. Since 2008 that the team was bought by the Abu Dhabi United Group, the club has never been the same again. Following the acquisition, a revolution commenced at the club, and this, in the past three years, had seen to the recruitment of some of the best talents in world football: Aguero, Mario Ballotelli, Yaya Toure, Vincent Kompany, David Silva, Gareth Barry and Samir Nasir. These are just some of the names on Manchester City’s payroll, that collectively make the club the formidable outfit it is today. 

By winning the premiership title, Manchester City succeeded in breaking the dominance of its neighbour, Manchester United, which had successively won the premiership title in the past three seasons. Indeed, it appeared as if United was on its way to winning the league again this year, with just four matches to go. At the time, the team was ahead of Manchester City with eight points. But just when the players were expected to consolidate their lead, they stumbled. They lost 0-1 to Wigan Athletic, played a 4-4 draw with Everton and lost 1-0 to Manchester City. These three results enabled City to catch up with them on points, ahead of the last match. And with a superior goals aggregate, Manchester City only needed to win the match against QPR to emerge league champions. This, they succeeded in doing.

On the other hand, losing to Manchester City would have led to QPR’s relegation but for mother luck. QPR’s fans owe this luck to Bolton Wanderers, which failed to win its last match against Stokes. Had Bolton won that match, it would have overtaken QPR on the league table and thereby avoid the drop to the lower division. The players could not do this and thus were relegated — along with Blackburn Rovers and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

 Manchester City’s amazing feat, coming a year after the team won the FA Cup, has shown how easily, money can help turn around the fortunes of a club. Before its acquisition by the wealthy Abu Dhabi group, City was just one of the teams in the English Premiership. Not anymore. And its triumph means that all speculation relating to whether Roberto Mancini, Manchester City’s coach, could lose his job if the club failed to win a major trophy this season, now ends in the cooler. Mancini, it could be said, helped to spur his players to achieve victory that May 13. He was a restless soul throughout the period his team was trailing QPR, as he endlessly moaned, gestured or shouted about what the players did or should have done.

Apart from Manchester City and United which finished as first and second best respectively, other teams like Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle had a fairly good run. The teams finished behind Manchester City and United in that order on the league table. This means that Arsenal is guaranteed Champions League football next season. Tottenham also stands a chance of participating if Chelsea fails to win the Champions League final match against Bayern Munich on May 19. This is because only four teams, at most, are allowed to participate in the Champions League, and Chelsea, as the defending champion, would have an edge over Tottenham.

But the surprise team of the season in England this year, is undoubtedly Newcastle, which placed fifth. Boasting an array of African players such as Demba Ba, Papiss Cisse, Cheick Tiote, Shola and Sammy Ameobi, the Alan Pardew tutored side, surprised even themselves by placing fifth. Little wonder Pardew was voted the premiership manager of the year. The duo of Ba and Cisse scored 16 and 13 goals respectively. Cisse’s goal haul is considered remarkable considering that he joined Newcastle only this year. While Pardew is celebrating his award as Barclays Manager of the season, Kenny Dalglish was sacked as Liverpool coach on May 16, apparently for Liverpool’s failure to qualify for next year’s Champions League. This is inspite of the fact that Liverpool won the Carling Cup and also reached the finals of the FA Cup which Chelsea won.  

In Spain, Real Madrid also won the league title at the expense of Barcelona, the club under whose shadow, it had existed in the past four years. Not only did Real Madrid succeed in halting Barca’s dominance of the Spanish league, it also became the first La liga club to attain 100 points in a season.

The “special one,” as Mourinho is often referred to by his fans, was actually hired by Real Madrid’s management to help break Barca’s stranglehold and that is what he has done. Not only is Barcelona now dethroned, the club also lost the services of its coach, Pep Guardiola, who decided to throw in the towel following the 2-1 league defeat to Madrid in April and the elimination from the Champions League, three days later, by Chelsea.

Real Madrid’s path to becoming league champion was smoothened by the 2-1 away win it secured against Barcelona. It was the second trophy in two years that the club would win under Mourinho, the Portuguese tactician. Mourinho, by successfully guiding Madrid to the league crown, has, on his own, created history. He becomes the first coach ever to win the league trophy in four different countries – Portugal with FC Porto, England with Chelsea, and Italy with Inter Milan. But the contributions of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid’s success cannot be overlooked. He scored 46 goals in all competition this season, making him the second highest goal scorer in Spain this season, after Lionel Messi.

In Italy, Juventus also emerged the league champion. The “old lady” of Italian football, as Juventus is affectionately called, achieved this feat by beating Cagliari 2-0, with a match to spare. Its closest rival, AC Milan, lost 2-4 to Inter Milan, and both results ensured that Juventus boasted a four-point lead going into the last game. The victory was Juventus’ first in the last nine years since it got enmeshed in a match fixing scandal that saw it stripped of its 2005 and 2006 league titles. This triumph now brings Juventus Seria A league crowns to 28 and effectively proves its pedigree, once again, as a leading Italian and European side.

In Germany, Borrusia Dortmund capped a fine season by winning the league at the expense of Bayern Munich, the team that played the Champions League final against Chelsea on May 19.