How Liverpool’s 18-point win compares to Europe’s other title winners
Liverpool won the 2019-20 Premier League by 18 points from Manchester City – and the impressiveness of that winning margin is highlighted by looking at how Europe’s other major leagues finished.
Liverpool finished a point short of the record 19-point margin Manchester City won the Premier League by in 2017-18, though they did clinch the title in the fewest number of games.
That probably stood against them when it came to chasing down records during the run-in – the Reds were sixth in the table since the restart – but the ease at which they won the league is in stark contrast to Juventus, who won a ninth straight Serie A title but ultimately finished only a solitary point clear of Inter Milan.
Here, we look at the closeness between teams at the top of all five major European leagues – the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and La Liga.
Premier League (18 points)
Liverpool finished on 99 points with only three defeats, six fewer than second-placed Manchester City, who finished way back on 81 points.
Third and fourth-placed Manchester United and Chelsea were even further back in the distance on 66 points, some 33 behind Jurgen Klopp’s side.
READ: Comparing Liverpool’s front three with the best attacks in Europe in 2019-20
La Liga (5 points)
Real Madrid won their 34th title with just one game remaining, finishing on 87 points, 12 fewer than Liverpool managed but five points clear of second-placed Barcelona.
In contrast to the Premier League, third and fourth-placed Atletico Madrid and Sevilla each finished 17 points behind Real, a point closer to the champions than second-placed City got in England.
Serie A (1 point)
Having been crowned champions for a ninth year in a row with two games to spare, Juventus lost both of those final games and ultimately finished only a point clear of Inter on 83 points.
Atalanta and Lazio both finished on 78, only five points behind Juve, while even sixth-placed Milan were only 17 points off the lead and so closer to the champions than City were in England.
Whereas finishing 33 points behind Liverpool got you a Champions League place in the Premier League, finishing 33 points behind Juve would only have been enough for ninth in Serie A.
Bundesliga
Bayern Munich only clinched their eighth straight title with two games remaining, but Hans-Dieter Flick’s side actually finished 13 points clear of second-placed Borussia Dortmund, giving them the second biggest winning margin in Europe’s top five leagues.
It was much closer behind them, though: RB Leipzig and Borussia Monchengladbach in third and fourth finished 16 and 17 points behind Bayern respectively, while fifth-placed Bayer Leverkusen were 19 off the pace, only one more than the gap between Liverpool and City.
Ligue 1
Paris Saint-Germain finished 12 points ahead of Marseille in Ligue 1, but the season was curtailed early due to the pandemic on April 28 with 11 games still remaining for the nine-time champions to increase their winning margin.
Third-placed Rennes were already 18 points behind PSG, with Lille a further point behind still, suggesting the final Ligue 1 table could well have had a similar look to the Premier League.
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