Closest title races across Europe - Ranking the top five European Leagues

The season is well underway in Europe and we are starting to get a clear picture as to who is involved in the title race and who is not.The top five leagues across Europe have thrown plenty of interesting moments along the course of this current season. While in some leagues, the title race is all but over already, in some leagues we are no closer to predicting the winner than we were at the start of the season.We look at the top five leagues in Europe and rank them according to the closeness of their title racesNote: Leagues have been ranked based on the number of teams involved in the title race and the points difference between them.

#1 English Premier League

leicester city vs manchester city — The Premier League is heading for an exciting finish this season

Leicester city may be the favourites to win the title this season, but, as many as four teams still have a very realistic chance of claiming the top prize at the end of the season. Leicester, the two North London rivals, Tottenham and Arsenal, and Manchester City are all involved in this unpredictable title race.

The current gap between Leicester at the top and Manchester City at fourth place is just six points and with 25 games being played this season, we are still not capable of predicting who will emerge as champions.

This weekend might go a long way in determining the title race with first placed Leicester City taking on third place Arsenal at the Emirates on Sunday. Also, later in the afternoon, second placed Tottenham face Manchester City in what promises to be an intense and thrilling encounter.

The teams involved in the title race along with the next closest team on the League table
Position	Team	Matches played	Points	Points difference to the top
1	Leicester City	25	53	-
2	Tottenham	25	48	5
3	Arsenal	25	48	5
4	Manchester City	25	47	6
5	Manchester United	25	41	12

The table shows that the top 4 are bunched close together while a 12 point gap separates fifth placed team Manchester United from table toppers Leicester City.

#2 Spanish La Liga

atletico madrid champions celebrations — Can Atletico Madrid become champions again?

The La Liga is usually dominated by the two giants of Spanish football – Barcelona and Real Madrid. However, in recent seasons a third team, Atletico Madrid has been pushing these 2 footballing superpowers to their very limits with Atletico even managing to beat both of them to the La Liga title in the 2013/2014 season.

This season also, the title race is between those three teams though Barcelona admittedly look like favourites to claim the title.

Real Madrid have vastly improved after Zinedine Zidane took over and Atletico Madrid is a team which will not go down without a fight. With superstars like Lionel Messi for Barcelona, Cristiano Ronaldo for Real Madrid and Antoine Griezmann for Atletico Madrid, the La Liga will have plenty of twists and turns before one of these three teams walks away with the La Liga crown in May.

The teams involved in the title race along with the next closest team on the La Liga table
Position	Team	Matches played	Points	Points difference to the top
1	Barcelona	22	54	-
2	Atletico Madrid	23	51	3
3	Real Madrid	23	50	4
4	Villarreal	23	45	9

The top 3 teams are in the title race with the 4^th position team Villarreal being nine points away from the top position.

#3 Italian Serie A

juventus vs napoli — Juventus vs Napoli on Sunday will go a huge way in deciding the eventual Serie A champions this season

The Serie A has slowly become a two-horse race between Napoli and Juventus after contenders like Inter Milan and Fiorentina have suffered dips in their form.

Juventus who started off miserably are now on a stunning 14 match winning streak which has propelled them from the bottom half of the table to just within two points of the summit. Allegri's men have gone from strength to strength as the season progressed with Paulo Dybala's stunning form playing an integral part in their amazing streak.

Napoli meanwhile have an Argentine superstar of their own with Gonzalo Higuain almost single-handedly winning matches for the team from Naples. Higuain heads the Serie A goal scoring charts having scored 24 goals in 23 appearances for them.

With just two points separating first and second place, Sunday’s clash between Juventus and Napoli is definitely a ‘six pointer’.

The teams involved in the title race along with the next closest team on the Serie A table
Position	Team	Matches Played	Points	Points difference to the top
1	Napoli	24	56	-
2	Juventus	24	54	2
3	Fiorentina	24	46	10

The Serie A title race looks like a straight shootout between Napoli and Juventus with third place Fiorentina being 10 points away from the top spot.

#4 German Bundesliga

bayern munich crowd — Bayern Munich have been their usual dominant selves in the Bundesliga this season

Twenty matches played, 14 wins , 3 draws and 3 losses with 45 points would have been title-winning form in many leagues, but not in the Bundesliga where Bayern Munich are the top dogs.

Borussia Dortmund has enjoyed a revival in their fortunes under Thomas Tuchel this season, even briefly being on top during September and October. However, Pep Guardiola’s dominant Bayern Munich have been in absolutely dominant form in the Bundesliga this season having won 17 of their 20 games and losing only once.

Bayern Munich now look like favourites to go ahead and claim the title with Borussia Dortmund 8 points behind in second place. The third place team Hertha Berlin is 10 points behind Dortmund and this shows the dominance of the German giants this season.

Although, Borussia Dortmund are in with a slight chance of winning the title, it will really be a huge shock if Bayern fails to secure top spot in Guardiola’s final season.

The teams involved in the title race along with the next closest team on the Bundesliga table
Position	Team	Matches Played	Points	Points difference to the top
1	Bayern Munich	20	53	-
2	Borussia Dortmund	20	45	8
3	Hertha Berlin	20	35	18

Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund are in a league of their own with Hertha berlin being 18 points away from the top spot.

#5 French Ligue 1

psg — Paris Saint-Germain will definitely finish as champions of Ligue 1 this season.

Probably the most one-sided league in recent times, PSG have built an unassailable lead at the top in the French Ligue 1 competition. Yet to taste defeat in the competition, the team from the French capital is a whopping 24 points ahead of their nearest competitors AS Monaco.

The only thing of interest remaining is to see whether PSG can go the entire season without being unbeaten.

Stars like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Angel Di Maria and David Luiz have been in stunning form for PSG this season and they will be hoping that their astonishing league form will help them achieve great things in the Champions League as well where they are sure to face sterner competition.