“Without points deductions, what is the biggest difference in points between two positions in a European top flight?” tweets Daniel Storey. “I’m asking because This “It currently ranks second and third in Turkey.”
While Galatasaray is at the top of the Super League, Beşiktaş is in second place, 24 points behind the team, and F.Bahçe is in second place with 64 points. As Eoghan Kelly points outThere was an even bigger gap between second and third in the 2018-19 Premier League, where Liverpool finished second behind Manchester City with 97 points. The best of the rest was Chelsea, who finished 25 points behind Liverpool.
A year later, with the Premier League on hiatus before Covid, it was City who were crowned champions, 25 points behind Liverpool. Jurgen Klopp’s side got some relief after winning the club’s first title since 1990, finishing the season 18 points ahead of City.
Chris Roe reminds us that poor Derby County finished the 2007-08 season bottom of the Premier League in 19th place with 11 points, 24 points behind Birmingham City. But as Chris points out, the old Third Division in 1984-85 was a much more isolated team. Cambridge United, which includes David Moyes and young Andy Sinton in its squad, was in last place with 21 points from 46 matches, 25 points behind the other relegated teams Preston, Orient and Burnley.
Given the Old Firm’s recent duality, it’s little surprise that even better answers can be found north of the border. Derek Brosnan was the first to mention last season’s Scottish Premier League, specifically the gap between Rangers, who sit second with 92 points, and Aberdeen (57).
Dirk Maas has surveyed Europe’s big five leagues, as well as the Netherlands, Portugal and Scotland, and thinks the 35-point gap is a record for the end-of-season table. As he noted, this was not the first 30-point margin in the Scottish Premier League.
2002-03: 34 points Celtic (2nd, 97) Trophies (3rd, 63)
2004-05: 31 points Celtic (2nd, 93 points) Hibernian (3rd, 62)
2016-17: 30 points Celtic (1st, 106), Aberdeen (2nd, 76)
He also sent us the biggest spread across seven other leagues for us to examine:
League 1
2015-16: 31 points PSG (1st, 96), Lyon (2nd, 65)
La Liga
2011-12: 30 points Barcelona (2nd, 91), Valencia (3rd, 61)
Dirk adds: “It is also worth mentioning the 26-point gap between Merida and the last team, Sporting Gijon, who finished the 1997-98 season with only 13 points.”
Eredivisie
2002-03: 28 points Feyenoord (3rd, 80), NAC Breda (4th, 52)
Bundesliga
2012-13: 25 points Bayern Munich (1st, 91), Borussia Dortmund (2nd, 66)
Premier League
2018-19: 25 points Liverpool (2nd, 97), Chelsea (3rd, 72)
Primeira Liga
2017-18: 24 points Braga (4th, 75), Rio Ave (5th, 51)
Group a
2006-07: 22 points Inter (1st, 97), Lazio (2nd, 75)
Quiet international celebrations
“Nene Dorgeles refused to celebrate Afcon’s goal for Mali in their dramatic defeat against Ivory Coast, the country of his parents’ birth.” points out Eddie Eyes. “Are there any other examples of the legendary silent celebration in the international match?”
“How can you forget the goal Breel Embolo scored for Switzerland against Cameroon (his country of birth) in the 2022 World Cup?” says Charles Brukner, assuming we’ve forgotten the question rather than lazily cutting and pasting it in the hope that someone will jog our memory for us.
Embolo, who was born in Yaoundé, grew up in Basel and only received Swiss citizenship in 2014, scored the only goal of the match. As Louise Taylor reports:
This explains why the Monaco striker refrained from celebrating one of the simplest but potentially most important goals he will ever score. It was not Embolo’s fault that his six-yard finish stung the Cameroonians’ hearts, as their team’s chances of advancing beyond the group stage for the first time since Italia ’90 were significantly diminished.
Swiss coach Murat Yakin said, “Football writes these stories.” “I told Breel: ‘Cameroon is your friend, but they are also your rivals.’ “I’m happy with his performance.”
Shorter, multi-section stadium observation tours
A few weeks ago, we took an underground dive into the fastest routes covering at least one stadium in each of the first five episodes. But you can always go deeper…
Thomas Christiansen boldly begins: “In Copenhagen we can have the shortest distance between stadiums in the top five leagues, with or without ground sharing and excluding B teams.” “The journey begins at Tingbjerg Idrætspark, home to Brønshøj in the fifth tier, Danmarksserien. Next stop is Gladsaxe Stadion, home of AB in League 2 (third tier). From here the journey leads to Østerbro Stadion, home of B 93 (second tier) in the 1st Division, and next door to Parken, home of Superliga’s FC Copenhagen (first tier).
“Last stop is Vanløse Idrætspark, home of Vanløse IF in League 3 (fourth tier). The entire journey is 18 km or 18.2 miles and can be completed in 46 minutes by car or one hour and two minutes by bike… If overlay is allowed, the first leg in the Danmarksserien may be canceled as BK Skjold will also play at the Østerbro Stadion. This reduces the journey to 15.9 km or 9.9 miles.”
Greatest tournament home defeats: asterisk edition
Inspired by Ivory Coast’s pointless 4-0 capitulation to Equatorial Guinea, in last week’s Knowledge we looked at the hosts suffering a resounding defeat. The list of defeats included 7-1, or rather the 7-1, 9-0 and 14-0. But Kári Tulinius may be at the top.
“The oldest international matches are shrouded in fog and legend, and few are as comprehensive as the final of the Olympic-adjacent tournament in Greece in 1896,” Kári writes. “For various reasons, the inaugural organizers of the modern Olympics decided not to include the sport, but due to the participation of a group of Danish football players, a match was scheduled for 12 April between Denmark and Greece, to be refereed by the scrupulously neutral Prince George of Denmark and Greece. Reports agree that the Danes defeated the Greeks, but the score is given as either 0-9 or 0-15. So it is possible that Greece will suffer their worst ever defeat by the host nation, but this cannot actually be known. The Greeks welcomed the coup and unofficially Even though it was an incident, they presented the Danes with their Olympic bronze medals.”
The wonderful rsssf.com made the following observation about the historical fog surrounding the match: “The fact that there is different information about the outcome of the football match and why it is more or less ignored is an advice from Crown Prince Constantine, who told the public that sports that are not included in the official Olympic program, such as football that it should not be mentioned.”
information archive
“In the Sunderland-Burton match on 21 April, both sides had a mathematical chance of survival, but by the end of the match, both teams were in danger of relegation. “Have there been any examples of two non-relegated teams playing each other and both losing at full time?” She posed for Mark Stephenson in 2018.
Christopher Vaughan set things straight by giving an example of a time when Manchester City were a comical shambles rather than the Pep-supported turbo-elite Premier League champions of today. [if only everything in this column aged so well – Knowledge Ed]. “On the last day of the 1997-98 season, Manchester City beat Stoke City 5-2, condemning them to the third flight. But results elsewhere meant that victory was not enough for the Laser Blues (they were known at the time for promoting their shirt deals with Kappa) and they joined the Potters in what was then Division Two. The away fans serenaded the Stoke faithful: “We’re going down, we’re going down, we’re going down… so are we, so are we, so are we!”
And Ben Lander took us to the Madejski Stadium on April 28, 2013; Two teams that both needed to win to stay afloat decided to do absolutely nothing to help their cause. “Reading and QPR went into the Premier League fixture knowing they could mathematically survive. Both needed a win, a draw would defeat them both. The match finished 0-0.”
Can you help?
“Conor Gallagher scored more goals against Crystal Palace than any other opponent. He also scored more goals for Palace are better than other clubs. How many players is this true for?” asks Jesse Pajwani.
Has there ever been a manager who has won an international cup (even a major trophy) in less than five games in his managerial career, as Emerse Faé did against Ivory Coast in the last AFCON?
— Ralph Neville (@RNevofficial) February 13, 2024
“All four goals in the Liverpool-Burnley match were headers” Alan Whitehill’s tweets. “I don’t remember a match with so many goals, all of which were headers. “Is there anyone who can do this better?” Apart from Eddie Reynolds…
“It is possible that the three clubs relegated from the Premier League last year (Leicester, Leeds and Southampton) will be replaced by the promoted teams (Burnley, Sheffield United and Luton). Has this ever happened before?” He’s curious about Mike Carter.
“Today I read the story of Horst Blankenburg, who won the European Cup three times with Ajax but never played for his native West Germany. Is there any other uncapped player who has won as many (or more) European Cup/Champions League medals?” asks Robbie Paterson.
@TheKnowledge_GU
It’s not unusual to see a manager watch from the stands after receiving a touchline ban, but who was the first manager, coach or non-playing member of staff to be sent off?— Nathan Eaton (@nate_1983) February 13, 2024
The four clubs currently at the bottom of the Spanish 2nd league all start with the letter A-Alcorcon, Albacete, Andorra and Amorebieta.
If all four clubs are relegated, will the four teams that shared their first letter be defeated for the first time?— james mcarthur (@jamesmcarthur15) February 11, 2024