Spanish Liga Santander outfit Elche, French Ligue One journeymen Angers and fading Italian Serie A mainstays Sampdoria are the first three teams to be relegated from Europe’s top five leagues. They could soon be joined by Premier League basement side Southampton, whose 4-3 defeat at Nottingham Forest on Monday night left them needing victories in all three final fixtures plus a heavy dose of luck. Ligue One strugglers Ajaccio and Troyes have also left themselves with a mountain that is too steep to climb.
Sampdoria’s drop to Serie B was confirmed by their 0-2 setback at Udinese on Monday and is a source of great sadness to Italy national team coach Roberto Mancini. The Azzuri boss starred in the side’s 1991 Scudetto winning outfit as part of a front three along with the late Gianluca Vialli and Attilio Lombardo. Azzuri 1994 World Cup goal keeper Gianluca Pagliuca kept goal for the Genoa based team.
Nicknamed Los Franjiverdes, Elche have been at sixes and sevens all season. They did not win any of their first 15 Liga Santander matches despite a change of managers. An improvement during the second half of the season witnessed a memorable 1-0 victory over Champions League chasing Villarreal and a 4-0 whitewash of Rayo Vallecano on match day 32 but that proved too little too late.
As they prepare for life in Segunda, they can take solace in the fact their three victories and seven draws allowed Elche to beat the unwanted record of lowest points tally ever registered of 13 which was set by Sporting Gijon in 1997/98. Just above Elche is an intense scramble for safety with just two points separating Almeria in 16th place from Getafe in 19th.
Angers were relegated with a nearly similar record of Elche and Sampdoria, with the trio registering only three league victories to date. Troyes and Ajaccio both need to win all of their remaining fixtures if they are to bridge a ten point deficit on Nantes who occupy the last safe position (17). The picture is less clear in England.
Just three points separate Leeds United in 19th place from Nottingham Forest in 16th. Leicester City are only above Leeds on goal difference yet they face Top Six sides Liverpool and Newcastle United in their next two fixtures. The Kop are the division’s form team after winning six matches in a row while Newcastle’s are almost impregnable at St James Park.
We are thus left with a distinct possibility of Leicester City being relegated only two seasons after winning the FA Cup and registering consecutive fifth place finishes in the Premier League. Though they face leaders Manchester City next, Everton’s 5-1 pummeling of Brighton on Monday puts them in good stead to get something from the visit to Wolves and a final day rubber with already safe Bournemouth.
