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Each season brings winners and losers across soccer’s major leagues and this campaign has been no different in Europe with a number of teams on the verge of pulling off impressive feats. Napoli have won their first Scudetto since 1990 in Italy while Arsenal are going toe-to-toe with Manchester City at the English summit. There is also a surprise name doing very well in France and Bayer Leverkusen could yet end their trophy jinx in the UEFA Europa League.
Here are our top five most surprising European teams of 2022-23:
Honorable mentions: Brighton, Lazio and Villa
Brighton and Hove Albion’s impressive recovery and further rise under Roberto de Zerbi after the loss of Graham Potter to Chelsea has only been bettered in the Premier League this term by Unai Emery’s Aston Villa. The Spaniard replaced Steven Gerrard at Villa Park with the Birmingham outfit battling relegation and he now has them knocking on the door of Europe after working his magic with Villarreal. Maurizio Sarri’s Lazio also deserve major praise for their Serie A campaign which currently has them in second behind runaway leaders Napoli but above the likes of Juventus, Inter, Milan and Roma.
5. Newcastle United
Eddie Howe has built upon what was already an impressive finish to the 2021-22 season when he lifted the Magpies from a relegation battle to midtable safety similar to Emery’s Villa feats albeit slightly less impressive. However, Newcastle’s 2022-23 performances have been nothing short of excellent and the Saudi-backed club are now on the verge of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League. Should the Geordies get their current top-four finish over the line, we could be witnessing the birth of another majority state-owned powerhouse forming in the Premier League with Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur among those pushed down the pecking order.
4. Bayer Leverkusen
Although they are currently short of last season’s third-placed Bundesliga position, Xabi Alonso’s side are in a European berth and have a shot at their first major title since 1993 in the UEFA Europa League where the Germans are currently semifinalists. Most impressive of all under the Spaniard is the fact that he has picked Die Werkself up from the lower reaches of the league after a woeful start and overseen a rise in the standings as well as an exciting continental run. The Champions League beckons via the UEL and Leverkusen fans must feel like their time could finally be coming after so many near misses.
3. RC Lens
Ligue 1’s title race was expected to feature many of the usual suspects such as Paris Saint-Germain, Olympique de Marseille and AS Monaco. Although PSG do lead the Championnat standings and OM and ASM are in European spots, there is one name that not many people would have been putting their money on to earn a Champions League spot: Lens. The cult club from Northern France have been steadily improving under Franck Haise’s leadership and are currently third with a crunch clash with Marseille coming up this weekend. Les Sang et Or could possibly find themselves finishing a deserved second in the table behind Les Parisiens and bringing continental soccer to the atmospheric Stade Bollaert Delelis for the first time since 2007. Assembled without any true superstar names and roared on by their fanatic home support, Lens might just be the true success story in European soccer this season.
2. Arsenal
Few expected Arsenal to jump from fifth place in the Premier League to first but the Gunners are still in with a shout of being crowned champions despite title rivals Manchester City having a game in hand on top of their one-point lead. Champions or not, Mikel Arteta’s transformation of the London giants has been impressive and even finishing second is a significant achievement from last season to finally emerge from the shadow cast by Arsene Wenger. Anything could happen in the final few rounds of games in England but it remains an excellent showing despite starting to run out of gas of late.
1. Napoli
Diego Maradona led the Naples giants to their most recent Serie A crown back in 1990 and the Partenopei ended that wait this week with Luciano Spalletti’s men reaching the Italian summit. A third-ever Scudetto was not expected at the start of this season yet the team led by Victor Osimhen and inspired by Khvicha Kvaratshkelia has wowed Europe with their domestic and continental form. The Champions League will have to wait but the cityis rocking and celebrating an unexpected title in a vintage year for calcio lovers across the world.