UEFA Season Review 5/10.
Top 5 Leagues, sixth-placed everything.
The season 2020–21 finished in all the five leagues yesterday, and it is, I believe, my duty, to reflect upon it. Today, we shall decide on everything in the sixth place, the team, player, Manager, forward, midfielder, surprise team, and surprise player.
Let us Begin.
Best Team #6
Lille
Lille hasn’t crept up in this, until now. What a way to dethrone PSG, pipping them on the last day with a win, and then… the goalkeeper and the manager leaving. Yeah, fun while it lasted. But we know this happens, when a team comes up like this, its members are in demand. I will be honest, I have not watched them play very much, and the ones that I have, have been decent, not brilliant. But, winning Ligue 1 ahead of PSG is an achievement that very few will underestimate.
In case you didn’t already get it, they won the Ligue 1 title for the first time in a decade, and are the second team to win it, other than PSG, since 2012.
Best Player #6
Cristiano Ronaldo
I am very sorry, I tried to place him on third, fourth, even fifth, but there was always someone I thought was better than him. I might be biased, but trust me when I say that I tried to place him higher, and simply couldn’t, out of honesty.
Now that the apology is out there, let me say this, Ronaldo was the only player in Juventus that did anything positive. Throw in Mckinney or Chiesa in but really, only he was making any serious attempts at winning the Serie A. He failed, but that’s not on him. He was brilliant, from normal levels, not his, for his levels, he was disappointing. However, bow down everyone, he is 36.
Two things: First that I find the fact that Ronaldo is afraid of footballs very funny, although I am too. Secondly, he scored a ridiculous 36 goals in all competitions. Not all that impressive when you consider his previous exploits, but he’s 36 for god’s sake.
Best Forward #6
Luis Suarez
He was great, scored 21 goals in La Liga and was very critical in Atleti’s first title since 2014. Also, don’t forget that sweet, sweet revenge.
Best Midfielder #6
Frenkie De Jong
I am biased, but I will not listen to anyone who believes De Jong wasn’t phenomenal in this season. He was always a dependable receiver of a pass and was tireless in the middle of the park. He might not be as prolific as some other midfielders, but he sure is good at what he is supposed to do, and some more.
A Copa Del Rey in his bag, and he played a huge part in it. 12 goal contributions in all contributions for a defensive midfielder is more than expected, and helpful, especially for a goal deprived Barcelona side.
Best Manager #6
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Again, I probably should not have put Ole above Emery in the first place, but I did it, and now stand by it. He has steadied the ship, they consistently win more frequently than not, and he is a positive presence, not a negative one. I think he was fine, feel free to disagree.
Surprise Player #6
Luis Suarez
Yeah, I did not expect him to fit Atleti quite as he did, and I am apologetic to him for it, everything else was said above. I did not expect the same player to appear twice on the same day. Especially someone who has already appeared in one of the lists.
Surprise Team #6
Cadiz
Many people have been blaming Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atleti for losing against Cadiz, which, while is reasonable if they want to be the ‘best’ team in Spain, but that also discredits Cadiz, and they have been great all season long, keeping a deep, strong backline and stopping every attack that comes their way.
You must be hyped for them by now…they finished 12th in the league. No, they weren’t flawless, but I predicted them to be much lower. They just got promoted from Segunda division and well, 12th ain’t that bad.
This is an opinion, and let me know yours in the comments! Not included defenders and goalkeepers because I found them very hard to rank. I felt I shouldn’t rank them at all. If you want to let me know your rankings of the same, again, let me know in the comments.
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That’s it then!
