European Title Races: 5 Leagues Still Up for Grabs in the Final Weeks of the 2018/19 Season
Juventus were crowned Serie A champions over the weekend for the eighth straight year after victory over Fiorentina saw them stay 20 points ahead of second place Napoli, who can only get a maximum of 18 more points this season.
Paris Saint-Germain also wrapped up the Ligue 1 title in France with five games to spare over Easter weekend as Kylian Mbappe netted a hat-trick against former club Monaco. It is PSG's sixth domestic triumph in the last six seasons as their dominance continues.
Elsewhere, Barcelona are nine points clear at the top of La Liga and just two wins away from securing a eighth Spanish title in the last 11 seasons.
What's more, it remains difficult to predict these incredible reigns coming to an end.
But it isn't quite so straightforward in several other countries across Europe, with the following five leagues still enjoying incredibly close title battles as 2018/19 nears its conclusion.
Süper Lig (Turkey)
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Contenders: Istanbul Basaksehir, Galatasaray
Fixtures Remaining: 5
Istanbul Basaksehir lead traditional giants Galatasaray by three points after 29 rounds of fixtures in the Süper Lig and could become only the sixth different club to be crowned Turkish champions.
Bursaspor in 2010 were the last club other than Turkey's big three to finish top of the pile, while Trabzonspor are the only other to break the stranglehold, but their last title came in 1984.
Promoted to the top flight as recently as 2014 and impressively finishing as Süper Lig runners up in the 2016/17 season, Basaksehir's current squad includes notable veterans Emmanuel Adebayor, Robinho, Gael Clichy, Demba Ba, Gokhan Inler and Emre Belozoglu.
They are tasked with travelling across Istanbul to face Galatasaray at the Türk Telekom Arena in a potential title decider in the season's penultimate gameweek on 19 May.
Club | P | GD | Pts |
Istanbul Basaksehir | 29 | +29 | 62 |
Galatasaray | 29 | +33 | 59 |
Besiktas | 28 | +23 | 53 |
Trabzonspor | 29 | +14 | 52 |
Primeira Liga (Portugal)
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Contenders: Porto, Benfica
Fixtures Remaining: 4/5
This season's Portuguese title race is a two-way fight between old rivals Benfica and Porto, who could go into the final four games level on points if the former wins their game in hand on Monday night.
Porto won the title by a comfortable margin last season, but Benfica still hold the overall Portuguese record for most national league titles with 36, compared to Porto's 28.
Sporting CP, despite a troubled summer last year that saw Rui Patricio, William Carvalho, Gelson Martins leave the club, are impressively only eight points off the pace, although that is too much of a gap to mount any sort of late title challenge at this late stage.
Club | P | GD | Pts |
Porto | 30 | +45 | 75 |
Benfica | 29 | +55 | 72 |
Sporting CP | 30 | +31 | 67 |
Braga | 30 | +23 | 64 |
Eredivisie (Netherlands)
Contenders: Ajax, PSV Eindhoven
Fixtures Remaining: 3
Ajax have wowed Europe with an impressive Champions League run that has so far included away wins against Real Madrid and Juventus in the knockout stages, but the Amsterdam club are not having it all their own way back home in the Eredivisie.
They remain locked on the same number of points as reigning champions PSV Eindhoven, with both clubs having just three games left to play in a very tense race.
Ajax haven't won the Dutch title since the 2013/14 season, the last of four in a row under the guidance of former captain Frank de Boer. PSV have won three out of the four since, with the other one going to Feyenoord in 2016/17.
Ajax can still win a treble this season as the KNVB Cup final also looms in May.
Club | P | GD | Pts |
Ajax | 31 | +78 | 77 |
PSV Eindhoven | 31 | +68 | 77 |
Feyenoord | 31 | +29 | 59 |
AZ Alkmaar | 31 | +21 | 52 |
Bundesliga (Germany)
Contenders: Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund
Fixtures Remaining: 4
Bayern Munich have recovered from a poor first half of the season to reel in early leaders and title hopefuls Borussia Dortmund, to the point where the Bavarians now lead the standings by a point with only four games each left to play.
Bayern had won six Bundesliga titles in a row prior to this season and are looking to make it seven, while Dortmund are the last club other than Bayern to finish top of the pile in Germany.
With Dortmund out of Europe and out of this season's DFB Pokal - Bayern have a cup semi final later this month - the league is the only thing the young squad has to focus on.
Club | P | GD | Pts |
Bayern Munich | 30 | +50 | 70 |
Borussia Dortmund | 30 | +36 | 69 |
RB Leipzig | 30 | +34 | 61 |
Eintracht Frankfurt | 29 | +23 | 52 |
Premier League (England)
Contenders: Liverpool, Manchester City
Fixtures Remaining: 3/4
In 2018/19, Manchester City and Liverpool are likely to record the second and third best points tallies ever seen in a Premier League season, but only one can be crowned champions.
If City, who managed a never before seen tally of 100 points last season, can continue winning the title will be theirs again. But anything less than a perfect record in the remaining four games would open the door for Liverpool, who have just three games left.
The defining game of the season could be Wednesday night's Manchester derby between City and local rivals United. Despite being at a low ebb this time last year, United delayed City's title celebrations with an unexpected derby win and are at a similarly low point now.
If Liverpool can do it, it will be their first English league title since 1990.
Club | P | GD | Pts |
Liverpool | 35 | +59 | 88 |
Manchester City | 34 | +65 | 86 |
Tottenham Hotspur | 34 | +29 | 67 |
Arsenal | 34 | +25 | 66 |
