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Man United: Not looking like 2 times in a row at the mo..

Champions Struggling all across Europe

Winning a league title in football is hard but many people say it is even harder to retain a title.

When you are the champions, other teams have a greater incentive to raise their game and this can pose a greater problem as every club wants to beat the champions of their respective leagues.

A look around at some of the top leagues in Europe indicates that so far, some of the reigning champions are not having everything their own way as they aim to hold on to the trophies they fought so hard to win last season.

United Faltering
Manchester United fans like to sing “Champions of England, Champions of Europe” in honour of their glorious 2007/08 season but whether they will be able to look back on the 08/09 campaign with the same amount of glee is looking questionable.

The squad that was good enough to reign supreme at home and abroad last season has been bolstered with the addition of Dimitar Berbatov but there have been signs that United are less potent than what they were in recent campaigns.

Part of United’s strength last season was grinding out results in the big games against their fellow Top 4 contenders but this season united have failed badly against their main competitors.

Admittedly, due to a quirk of the fixture or a conspiracy against the club if you listen to Alex Ferguson, United have faced Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal away from home in the first half of the season.

The test at Anfield is one that United have coped with admirably in recent seasons with Rafa Benitez never having won a league match against United prior to this season. That all changed when Liverpool stormed back from a goal down to win 2-1 to serve notice that perhaps this season the red half of Merseyside may be able to sustain a title challenge.

Close but No Victory at Stamford Bridge
This put increased pressure on United when they went to Stamford Bridge and for a long period of time it looked as though they would be the first club to inflict a home defeat on Chelsea in a long period of time.

Leading at half time through an early Park strike, United led but always looked as though they would have to battle until the end. United picked up 7 bookings throughout the course of the match and their hard work and effort was undone in the 80th minute when Chelsea equalised through Solomon Kalou with the game ending in a 1-1 draw.

Most recently of their three big fixtures, Manchester United travelled to the Emirates to face an Arsenal team who had already lost to Fulham, Hull City and Stoke in their season so far. United were strongly backed to leave London with all three points but two goals from Nasri shocked United as they went down 2-1 again at the hands of one of their closest rivals.

United seem able to swat away teams like West Bromwich Albion, Hull City and Stoke City at home but so far, their results against their genuine rivals have been very disappointing and it will take some run of form to catch up with and overtake Chelsea and Liverpool at the moment.

One consolation for United is that Arsenal seem in even poorer form than United with another home defeat, this time against Aston Villa, seemingly ruling Arsenal out of genuinely challenging for this seasons title.

Real Miss Ruud
In La Liga, Real Madrid are only two points off the top after having played a game more than Barcelona and Villarreal but it has not been the best of weeks for the reigning Spanish champions.

In midweek, the club were sensationally knocked out of the Spanish Cup with the two legged scores tied at 6-6 as third division side Real Union progressed on the away goals rule.

Madrid were further shocked when it was announced that Ruud van Nistelrooy would be ruled out for the remainder of the campaign with a serious knee injury. The Dutchman has been in fine form for Madrid’s last two title winning campaigns and a lot of the clubs hopes were pinned on the striker coring goals.

The week was rounded off badly for Real Madrid as they slipped to a 1-0 defeat at Valladolid. With two defeats at the hands of Juventus in the Champions League also causing concern, there is starting to be talk about how long coach Bernd Schuster can expect to remain in charge of the Madrid giants. Talk is already gathering about Juande Ramos or Rafa Benitez ending up as the next manager at the Bernabeu stadium.

Bayern Munich Not Exciting Their Fans
In Germany, Bayern Munich lie three points off the top of the table in third place but a series of disappointing results have not pleased the fans and there are doubts about the ability of Jurgen Klinsmann to lead the team to success.

The fact that Bayern are still in contention at the top of the table is as much due to the inconsistency shown by the other teams at the top of the league as opposed to any great success or form by the current German champions.

A 2-2 draw away to Borussia Monchengladbach was the latest set of dropped points that the Bavarian club have surrendered this season and with their Champions League form following a similar pattern, there are doubts about how far Bayern Munich will go this season.

Jose Unpopular with Press
He may not have the Italian media in his pocket like he used to control the English press but for all the criticism being levelled at Jose Mourinho, at least his Inter Milan side are currently top of Serie A.

With Inter being proclaimed the champions for the past three season, Mourinho was brought in to launch a serious assault on the Champions League but the supporters and club members expect another league triumph too so some of the dropped points by Inter has caused consternation amongst many supporters.

A 2-0 triumph away to Palermo with Zlatan Ibrahimovic netting a double in the second and these goals restored Inter to the top of Serie A, which should give Jose a little bit of respite from the press.

With so much of the season still to go, the reigning champions will not be getting overly concerned at their current position but there will be an awareness that there needs to be an improvement if the clubs wish to hold on to the titles they fought so hard to earn in the first place.

With all of the champions fighting on two fronts, the next few months will be interesting to observe and see who keeps their nerve in all competitions.

by Andrew Reilly

for The Silver Circle at www.footballtip.co.uk

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