Monday 1 February 2016

Biggest league winning margins

Last night saw Paris Saint-Germain put even more daylight between themselves and the rest of France by going 24 points clear of 2nd placed Monaco. Going into the weekend Monaco were "only" 21 points behind but a 3-0 defeat away at surprise package Angers on Saturday gave PSG the opportunity, which they duly took, to extend the gap by three more points away at Saint Étienne. Two Zlatan Ibrahimović goals sent them on their way and with the gap only looking like increasing it got me thinking of this. What is the largest league winning margin in Europe?
PSG aren't the only side enjoying such a wide margin at the top. In Serbia, Crvena Zvezda are currently twenty-five points clear of Čukarički and Borac Čačak. Crvena Zvezda are also like PSG, unbeaten.

Celtic 2013-14: (29 points)
This is probably the biggest winning margin, certainly that I found anyway. Celtic in 2013-14 were utterly dominant. Yes you could say it was helped by the absence of their arch-rivals Rangers but by the end of this season Celtic had scored 102 goals and finished a point shy of the century. Their haul of ninety-nine points was twenty-nine more than second placed Motherwell. 

Dinamo Zagreb 2007-08: (28 points)
Running Celtic's winning margin in 2013-14 very close is Dinamo Zagreb's triumph in 2007-08. The capital side ended this campaign twenty-eight points clear of second placed Slaven Koprivnica. Oddly for a dominant team like Dinamo, they scored ninety-one goals but their highest scorer was an attacking midfielder by the name of Luka Modrić, who was fourth in league scoring charts. 

FC København 2010-11: (26 points)
København stormed to the Danish Superliga in 2010-11 to secure their ninth title. They ended up with a twenty-six point lead over OB Odense. They lost just two games all season one of which was a 3-0 defeat to OB on the penultimate matchday. This was also the same season the club reached the last 16 in the champions league before succumbing to Chelsea 2-0 over two legs. 

Bayern Munich 2012-13: (25 points)
The title win that started the current run of Bayern dominance in Germany. This was Jupp Heynckes final season in charge of the club in which they would end up with a treble of league, cup and champions league. In the Bundesliga they finished twenty-five points clear of Borussia Dortmund in second place. They scored ninety-eight goals in thirty-four matches and were only beaten once all season.

HJK Helsinki 2011: (24 points)
The last Finnish side to make the champions league group stage, HJK were emphatic champions in 2011. The capital side lost four games on route to finishing with eighty-one points and a massive twenty-four points clear of nearest challengers Inter Turku.

FC Basel 2014-15: (22 points)
Serial Swiss champions Basel added yet another league triumph in 2014-15. This time they were twenty-two points ahead of BSC Young Boys. Helped by Shkëlzen Gashi's twenty-two goals that season, Basel were never challenged as they secured their sixth title in a row. 

The New Saints 2012-13: (22 points)
The English based, Welsh Premier side won the title in 2012-13 by twenty-two points. They were the only full-time professional team in the league and it showed as they ran away from nearest challengers Airbus UK. 

Inter Milan 2006-07: (22 points)
Fresh from the calciopoli scandal rocking Serie A, Inter Milan blitz their way through everyone to finish a very comfortable twenty-two points clear of Roma in 2006-07. 

Rangers 1999-00: (21 points) 
Rangers won the SPL in 1999-00 in emphatic style. They were only beaten twice and one of those defeats came on the final day at Motherwell. In any case Rangers ended the season a massive twenty-one points ahead of second placed Celtic. It is worth noting that the SPL in this campaign was a ten-team league with all the teams playing each other four times for a total of thirty-six games in the season but Rangers conquered all that season. Scorers of no fewer than ninety-six goals they were deserving champions. 

Sheriff Tiraspol 2006-07: (21 points)
In the middle of their run of ten consecutive Moldovan Divizia titles, Sheriff ended up with the 06-07 title by being twenty-one points ahead of Zimbru. Their haul of ninety-two points that season remains the highest point tally in the Moldovan Divizia. They had an incredible defensive record too which deserves a mention. In the thirty-six games played, Sheriff only conceded seven goals.


Other 21 point margins:
In Estonia, Levadia Tallinn won the title by twenty-one points from closest challengers Sillamäe Kalev and Trans Narva. They also lost just once along the way.
FBK Kaunas emerged as Lithuania A Lyga champions in 2006 by finishing twenty-one points clear of Ekranas.
Sturm Graz were Austria Bundesliga champions in 1997-98 when they were twenty-one points ahead of Rapid Wien.


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