Most surprising winners of European leagues in the 21st century

Can Claudio Ranieri and Jamie Vardy lead Leicester to an improbable title win?the 2015-16 season has been a weird one as far major European football leagues are concerned. While Leicester City is mounting an incredibly unbelievable challenge for the EPL crown, just a point separates the top three teams in the Serie A and neither reigning Champions Juventus nor the runners-up A.S Roma are part of the trio.While in Spain, Atletico Madrid has steadfastly continued to prevent the La Liga from being turning out into a two-horse race between Real Madrid and Barcelona.However, with the season just crossing the halfway mark, which of these pretenders can sustain the challenge till the end? Remember the 08-09 Bundesliga season which saw the newly promoted Hoffenheim lead the table up to the mid-season mark before finishing 7th?This list takes a look at those instances when an outsider was able to successfully sustain a major European league title challenge till the very end and eventually win it.P.S: Only the clubs from England, Italy, Germany and Spain have been considered for the same.

#1 AS Roma- 2001 Serie A

Gabriel Batistuta scores against Parma to ensure Roma’s Scudetto

A.S Roma have been a heavyweight of Italian football for a long time. However, winning the league has never been their strong point and they have often been described as the bridesmaids of the Serie A.

Case in point– Roma has 14 runners-up medals across all Italian competitions from 2000. No team in any league across Europe has come close to achieving such an unflattering record.

The millennium could not have started worse for the Giallorossi as they witnessed their eternal rivals Lazio snatch the 1999-00 Serie A title by leapfrogging Juventus on the final day of the season. The consternation of the fans forced the hands of the management and a desperate bid was launched to land the crown the next season.

The masterstroke was none other than luring Argentine goal scoring machine Gabriel Batistuta from a reluctant Fiorentina. The 32.5 million Euro transfer fee still stands as the largest for a player above the age of 30.

The start of the season wasn’t ideal in any way as Roma struggled for form and faced a first round exit from the Coppa Italia. The low point was the Ultras attacking players’ cars at their Trigoria training complex.

But Fabio Capello’s 3-4-1-2 formation slowly started bearing fruit and with club captain Francesco Totti operating behind the forward duo of Batistuta and Vincenzo Montella, ‘I Lupi’ became one of the most exciting sides in Europe. The front line was ably assisted by the likes of Emerson, Walter Samuel and Vincent Candella and the Eternal City Derby victory over Champions Lazio underlined their title ambitions.

The forward trio would score 47 goals between them and Roma raced away from Juventus and Lazio in the title race. However, four draws in six games leading up to the last game of the season meant that they only led Juve by two points heading into a tricky finale against Parma.

Fittingly, goals from Batistuta, Totti and Montella ensured that there was no last match heartbreak as Roma ran out 3-1 victors at the Stadio Olympico to land their first title since 1982 and only their third overall. Fittingly, Roma topped the charts for most wins, most goals scored and best goal difference.

Roma would finish a three-way race for the title in second place the next year, losing out to Juventus after both overtaking Inter Milan on the final day.

Sadly, they would never win the Scudetto again.

#2 Valencia - 2002 & 2004 La Liga

Valencia would win the La Liga in 2002 and 2004 with Mista(left) scoring 19 times in the latter

Rafa Benitez has been criticised from many quarters recently following his ouster from the Real Madrid managerial position. However, the fact remains that the Spaniard has won titles with almost every club he has coached including the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea and even Napoli. However, he came into prominence with the exceptional work he did at the Mestalla managing Valencia.

Unlike Roma, Valencia did not play too much free flowing football and scored just 51 goals in the 01-02 season – three less than ninth-placed Athletic Bilbao and finished with just 75 points. Defensive midfielder Ruben Baraja was the top scorer with a mere 7 goals. Benitez’s side was ironically disqualified from the Copa Del Rey (coincidence??) for fielding too many non-EU players as well.

However, the season which began with a 1-0 victory over Real Madrid continued with a record 11 game winning streak on the back of a water tight defence marshalled by goalkeeper Santiago Canizares and defenders Roberto Ayala and Mauricio Pellegrino. Valencia would concede only 27 goals that season and went on to lift the title by 7 points.

Benitez and Valencia would do an encore two years later by winning the La Liga and UEFA Cup double. The defence remained as mean as ever and Mista took on the attacking duties with 19 goals.

Real Madrid actually held an 8 point advantage going into round 26, but Benitez’s team started a late charge which saw Valencia win the title with a five point advantage over Barcelona with Real eventually finishing fourth.

Valencia would end up having an incredible +44 goal difference as compared to Barcelona (+24) and Real Madrid (+18). Heady times indeed.

#3 Stuttgart - 2007 Bundesliga

Mario Gomez would inspire Stuttgart to the Bundesliga crown in 2007

Bayern Munich have been undisputed kings of German football and so it came as a delightful surprise for the neutrals when they did not even finish in the top three of the 2006-07 Bundesliga campaign. That season saw a three-way tussle between VfB Stuttgart, Schalke 04 and Werder Bremen with VfB eventually claiming the title on the final day of the season.

Comprising of one of the youngest squads in the country including the likes of Mario Gomez and a teenage Sami Khedira, Stuttgart struggled in the early part of the season. Starting out with a 3-0 reverse at the hands of Nuremberg, they would even find themselves in the relegation zone for a while.

However, Gomez soon came into his own and his 14 goals soon turned the tide. While their title rivals struggled during the business end of the season, VfB conjured up eight wins in a row.

The victory on the penultimate game of the season saw them take over the top spot from Schalke and in a topsy-turvy climax to the season, fell behind against Energie Cottbus in the deciding game. Defeat would have meant Schalke stealing the title, but Gomez and co composed themselves to rally and win the match 2-1.

This secured Stuttgart’s first title in 15 years and manager Armin Veh and Gomez were selected as Bundesliga coach and player of the year respectively.

#4 Wolfsburg- 2009 Bundesliga

Eden Dzeko and Grafite would score 54 goals for Wolfsburg in 08-09

VfL Wolfsburg took the Bundesliga by storm in the 2008-09 season, breaking a host of records and claiming their first ever league title. The club had narrowly escaped relegation in 2006 and 2007, but the tide had turned for the better after hiring former Bayern Munich manager Felix Magath at the end of the 2006-07 season.

Under Magath, the Wolves played highly entertaining football and had arguably the best strike partnership in the world for the 08-09 season. Not only did Grafite and Edin Dzeko score 28 and 26 goals respectively, they also topped the Bundesliga top scorers’ list with closest challenger Bayern’s representative being a 14 goal strong Luca Toni.

Supporting the deadly duo, Serbian Zvjedzan Misimovic topped the Bundesliga assist chart with 20 as Wolfsburg solidified their claims for the title.

Wolfsburg went on to produce a record ten-game winning streak after the winter break and topped the table for the first time after 26 rounds. They would not let go of the lead again.

The title would be won on the final day of the season with a 5-1 rout of a strong Werder Bremen side at the Volkswagen Arena.

#5 Atletico Madrid - 2014 La Liga

Never has a team shown more spirit in recent years than Atletico Madrid

Never had Real Madrid and Barcelona had had such a vice-like grip on the La Liga trophy during the last ten years – which makes Atletico Madrid’s 2013-14 La Liga triumph all the more remarkable. Assembled at a fraction of the cost of Real and Barca squads, Atleti’s players displayed their never say die spirit throughout the campaign along with their manager Diego Simeone.

Under Simeone and his predecessor Quique Sanchez Florez, Atleti had already won two Europa Leagues, the UEFA Super Cup and the Copa Del Rey leading up to the 13-14 season, but nobody expected the poor cousins of Real to mount a sustained title challenge.

However, 27 goals from Diego Costa and 13 assists from Koke, not to mention an excellent Thibaut Courtois in goal meant that Atleti never went outside the top 3 throughout the season. The strong supporting cast including super sub David Villa with 13 goals alongside the likes of Raul Garcia, Gabi and Diego Godin ensured that Simeone’s small squad was never overly reliant on any one player either.

It was never more evident than during the final game of the season against Barcelona at the Camp Nou. Atleti held a three-point edge over Barca, but the Catalans could capture the title with a home victory.

14 minutes into the game, talismanic striker Diego Costa had to be substituted due to a hamstring problem and bad turned to worse soon enough as Arda Turan followed him on the injured list. Barca would take advantage of the crisis with Alexis Sanchez handing them the lead just over the half hour mark.

A determined Atleti would come back after the break all pumped up and Diego Godin promptly gave them the equalizer in the 49th minute. The Rojiblancos would defend with their lives for the next half an hour, not yielding an inch and eventually claiming the title with a 1-1 draw.

Atleti would score only 77 goals that season, meagre compared to Real’s 104 and Barca’s 100 – but it was their spirit that would win them the title.