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As it Stands #01 Early pace setters and struggling starts
- 3pointstravel
- Sep 8, 2024
- 6 min read
It’s September, which means its no longer August. Which also means that the league campaign is settling into normality and the early pace setters either painstakingly fall from the top of the league or begin to become topics of conversation in the pub. Can they really keep going? Are they going to stay injury free? Is this season going to be the one?
As the dust settles on the transfer window (see our other blog) and supporters up and down the continent light up their flares, warm up their vocal cords and put on the newest and slickest club shirts, 3 Points are here to summarise the early front runners and concerning starts.
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The early risers: Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark
1.Liga 🇨🇿
Water is wet. The grass is green. Sparta and Slavia are the top two in Czechia. Sparta sit top, playing a game more than their Prague neighbours. Interestingly both sit on the same goal difference (+10) and have won all but one of their games so far this season, drawing the other. Last year they were separated by two points, we’re on course for another tight one. Viktoria Plzen are not far away from the pace setters, also boasting an unbeaten start. SK Dynamo Ceske Budejovice (not one to say with your mouth full) came bottom of the league last year but survived via the relegation play-offs. Their start this season has been equally bad winless in 7.
Superligaen 🇩🇰
August starts are too mainstream for some. Take the Superligaen in Denmark for example. Seven games in and current champions Midtjylland lead the way again with an unbeaten start, winning five and drawing two. It’s been a slower start for two of the sides from the capital with FC København and Brøndby in 4th and 5th place respectively. The Copenhagen derby last weekend saw FCK climb above the later. Another shout out to AGF, who are impressing in 2nd amassing 21 goals already. At the opposite end, things couldn’t have started any worse for Vejle Boldklub: P7, L7, -12GD. The international break may be a helpful reset…
First Division A 🇧🇪
It’s not a usual suspect who has come out of the traps in Belgium, newly promoted FCV Dender EH have started with an impressive 11 points from 6 games, fending off Anderlecht and Club Brugge at the summit. Its been a disappointing start for last seasons runners up, Union St Gilloise who find themselves in 9th place and Royal Antwerp down in 11th. Plenty of time to fix things. Will we be seeing a fairytale in Belgium come May?
The Big Four: France, Germany, Italy, Spain
Ligue 1 🇫🇷
PSG have started with a swagger and style to suggest they won’t hang around in making it four from 9 titles in 11 years. Roberto De Zerbi’s Marseille and Will Still’s Lens are two of the teams hoping they’ll be able to keep the pace. Lyon have had a slow start to the campaign after a disappointing season last time out. Champions League Brest will be hosting Real Madrid later in the year, but they’ll need to wake up from a relatively sluggish start in Ligue 1. St Etienne are yet to score a goal, with 3 straight defeats.
Bundesliga 🇩🇪
It’s too early to make wild predictions in Germany, but a special shout out to promoted FC Heidenheim who sit top of the tree after two rounds, and will enjoy the international break. Bayer Leverkusen have finally lost in the league after a monumental 36 Bundesliga games. Leipzig came from behind to win 3-2. Vincent Kompany’s Bayern have made it two from two and Nuri Sahin’s Dortmund are yet to experience defeat. There’s no point looking into this one in too much detail just yet.
Serie A 🇮🇹
Inter remain the team to beat in Italy, Thiago Motta’s Juventus might be their closest rivals to the Scudetto. Elsewhere two wins for Hellas Verona may ease early relegation fears and Udinese make up the top 4 with Juventus’ Turin rivals Torino. It’s been a sluggish start from Milan, Roma and last season’s surprise package Bologna. Newly promoted Como and Venezia are yet to start firing and awaiting their first win.
La Liga 🇪🇸
Hansi Flick has started life in Barcelona perfectly – with four wins from four. They lead Real Madrid by four points, who have stalled against Mallorca and Las Palmas on the road. It’s been a bleak start for Valencia who are the basement boys, fellow top half sides Sevilla and Real Betis are also winless. Shout out to Deportivo Alaves who have started strongly.
The Three Musketeers: Austria, Netherlands, Portugal
Bundesliga 🇦🇹
Strum Graz lead Rapid Wien by two points after 5 games in Austria. Rapid have the early advantage after beating title rivals and holders Strum Graz 1-0 on the opening day. Last seasons runners up RB Salzburg have the chance to go level with their game in hand. LASK who had a strong season last time out and finished 3rd find themselves in second bottom as we head into the international break.
Liga Portugal 🇵🇹
Picking up from where they left off, Sporting look ominously good. With maximum points, including beating title rivals Porto 2-0 and Viktor Gyokeres red hot goalscoring form continuing. Can anybody stop them? It has been a chaotic start at Benfica with Roger Schmidt being sacked already. Leonardo Jardim is rumoured to be the next boss. Nani’s heroic return to Estrel da Amadora has not started in a dreamy fashion, in 17th. Estoril had the busiest transfer window, and it looks like they are taking time to gel, still awaiting their first win.
Eredivisie 🇳🇱
PSV have flown out the traps with four wins from four – scoring 18 and conceding 3. It could be a long season for the challengers. Elsewhere there are impressive starts for AZ Alkmaar, FC Utrecht and FC Groningen. It’s been a slow burner for Feyenoord who start a new era and Ajax sit 12th, but have only played two.
Hipsters Paradise: Greece, Turkey
Super League 1 🇬🇷
Last years champions PAOK set the pace alongside Europa Conference League winners Olympiacos, who are looking to win their first title since 2021/22. AEK Athens took the silver medal last year and have started in similar fashion. All three remain unbeaten in three games. It’s early days, but a sluggish start from other Greek giants Panathinaikos. The new and cool Athens Kallithea are awaiting their first win, with two draws in August.
Super Lig 🇹🇷
Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbache lead the way from Istanbul rivals Galatasaray and Besiktas a point behind. Edin Dzeko has been in fine early season form for Fener, and he’ll need to keep it up with the arrival of Victor Osimhen arriving at Rams Park. Four teams remain winless, the most in the other leages we’ve covered: will Trabzonspor, Alanyaspor, Kayseripor, Hatayspor and Demirspor spur themselves into action?
Second tier steer: France, Germany, Italy
Ligue 2 🇫🇷
Paris FC are following their neighbours – top of the pile with a 100% record. Kylian Mbappe’s newly owned team Caen have not started well, winless and in 16th. Man City sister club Troyes are faring even worse and are rooted to the bottom.
Serie B 🇮🇹
Pisa may need to lean on its city to tower above the rest of the pack at the end of the season, but it’s a promising unbeaten start. Spezia will want to put last season behind them and build a promotion campaign. Andrea Pirlo’s Sampdoria are yet to win, with recently relegated Sassuolo and Frosinone yet to acclimatise.
2. Bundesliga 🇩🇪
Düsseldorf and Karlsruher SC lead the way in the German second tier. Hertha Berlin, Köln and Hamburg all previous staples in the top division have had steady starts with 7 points each. Schalke 04 have one win in four games and will need to step it up if they are to harbour promotion hopes.
It's a marathon not a sprint and all that. But sometimes the early bird does catch the worm...We're excited to see where this season takes us.
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