Top ten upsets in European football this Season
After nine months of breathless football, the 2023/24 season is gradually ending. League champions have emerged in Italy, Spain, Germany, and France, and only one game remains before a champion is crowned in the UEFA Cup games.
There have been several intriguing battles, and much has led to great upsets.
In this article, we look at the top ten upsets across Europe's top five leagues this season.
PSG 3-2 Loss to Nice 3-2 at Home
Although PSG’s 3-2 home loss to Nice in September eventually proved inconsequential to the direction of the Ligue 1 title this season, it was a huge early shocker.
The hosts entered the game as favourites, having never lost to Nice at home in nine years before the game.
But a masterclass from Terem Moffi, who scored twice for the visitors, condemned PSG to their first loss of the season.
With the loss, PSG dropped to third, while Nice climbed to second. The win sent shockwaves around France, indicating that PSG’s grip on the league could be over and a new champion would emerge.
That theory has proven false as the Parisians have retained their title, but that 3-2 win at the Parc des Princes in September was huge.
Royal Antwerp beating Barcelona in the UCL
As far as upsets go, Barcelona's 3-2 UEFA Champions League loss to Royal Antwerp is in a class of its own.
The Catalan club and many football fans weren't expecting anything short of a win when they travelled to Bosuilstadion for their final Champions League group game.
They had beaten the Belgian side 5-0 in the reverse fixture and were hoping to seal a win, confirming them as group winners, given that their hosts had yet to win a UCL group game until then.
But Antwerp put on one of their biggest European performances, matching Barca for shots and eventually winning 3-2. Xavi's men eventually finished top of the group while Antwerp’s chapter in this season's UCL ended that day, but it was a win that will live long in the memory of their fans.
Games like this is why we buy Champions League tickets on Seatsnet.
Wolves vs Man City 2-1 September 30
Rarely does Manchester City lose back-to-back games, and seldom do they look so ordinary and void of ideas. However, that is exactly what happened when they faced Wolves in September.
The Cityzens had lost to Newcastle United in the league cup in the previous game but were expected to bounce back against Wolves, considering they had won their opening six league games of the season and Wolves had lost four of their opening six games (W1, D1).
But the hosts pulled off an incredible upset, beating City 2-1 on the night despite having just one shot on target.
Sassuolo Doing a League Double over Inter
It is no secret that Inter Milan are Serie A champions this season after proving too strong for the rest of the league with their attacking brand of football.
But for all their quality, Inter couldn't defeat Sassuolo over two legs.
The first time both sides met this season was in September when Inter was on a five-game winning run in the league, accompanied by four clean sheets, and Sassuolo was still finding its feet.
But despite the gap in class and quality, Sassuolo beat Inter 2-1 at the San Siro, sending shockwaves across Italy and Europe.
It didn't end there, either, as Inter also failed to defeat Sassuolo in the reverse fixture even when they went into the game on a 28-game unbeaten league run and Sassuolo themselves were on a run of one win in 16 games.
In fact, Inter’s first-leg loss to Sassuolo was their only and last loss before the match, and Sassuolo beat them again–this time 1-0.
Manchester United’s Liverpool Resistance over three games
It remains a mystery how an in-form Liverpool team failed to get a win over a terrible Manchester United team or how a poor Manchester United team went undefeated against title hopefuls Liverpool over three games this season.
The Red Devils played Liverpool three times this season, facing over 60 shots in those games but still going home with a win and two draws.
Although form goes out of the window when both sides face each other, the fact that Man United did this while being statistically one of the worst United sides in history and facing one of the most potent teams in England this season ranks as a big upset.
Moreover, the fact that it happened three times also qualifies it as a huge upset.
Heidenheim's Comeback-win over Bayern Munich
Bayern Munich's 2023/24 season has been one to forget. They have suffered several disappointing results and will end the season trophyless for the first time in 12 years.
It is no news that one of their most embarrassing losses of the season was a 2-1 DFB Pokal loss to third-tier Saarbrucken in November.
But even that isn't as shocking as their 3-2 Bundesliga loss to newly promoted Heidenheim.
The Bavarians went into this game against the newbies as clear favourites and were expected to bounce back from a loss to Borussia Dortmund in the previous round.
To their credit, they proved their worth as favourites when they went 2-0 up in the first half thanks to goals from Harry Kane and Serge Gnabry.
But a second-half capitulation saw them lose 3-2, making Heidenheim the first newly promoted side to beat the reigning Bundesliga champions after going two goals down.
That loss effectively sealed Bayern's fate, as Bayer Leverkusen won the title in the next round.
Crystal Palace wins over Liverpool and Manchester United
It would be criminal to talk about the season's biggest upsets without mentioning Crystal Palace’s wins over Manchester United and Liverpool this season.
Palace handed Liverpool their first league defeat of the season at Anfield when they beat them by a lone goal.
The win was their first at Anfield since April 2017 and was rightly considered one of the season's biggest upsets.
But Palace followed up that win with an even bigger 4-0 victory over Manchester United three weeks later, helping them complete a league double over the Red Devils for the first time ever.
Upsets don't come bigger than that.
Girona’s top four success and league double over Barca
Girona's rise from a second-division club competing to join the big boys of the top flight to a force in La Liga in just two seasons is undoubtedly one of the major talking points in European football this season.
Just 18 months ago, the Catalan side was playing catch-up in the Segunda Division as they finished sixth. They gained promotion to the top flight in the play-offs, beating Tenerife 3–1 on aggregate in the final.
The following season, they took a big step forward, finishing in 10th place with 49 points in La Liga. Despite their success last season, they were not considered a threat to the top-four establishment.
However, Girona has threatened the top-four establishment, struck them, and bettered their previous season's achievements.
Michel's side have qualified for next year's Champions League with four games to play after a 4-2 win over last year's La Liga champions Barcelona in May.
The 4-2 win was their second win over their vastly superior Catalan rivals this season, following a 4-2 win away in the reverse fixture.
It was the first time in their 94-year history that they had done the league double over Barcelona. Rarely does a team do a double over Barca, but Michel’s men did it while scoring eight times, which is an impressive feat.
Winning Barca also pushed them into second place, meaning they can finish above Xavi’s men this season–another record.
Borussia Dortmund run to the Champions League final.
Borussia Dortmund's historic run to the Champions League final is another event on our list of top upsets this season.
The German club and one-time UCL winners booked a place in Wembley last Tuesday by beating Paris Saint-Germain 2-0 on aggregate in the semi-final.
They now face perennial winners Real Madrid in the final, hoping to exorcise their demons of 2013 when they lost to Bayern Munich at Wembley.
However, no matter what happens in Wembley, this journey to the final is already one that everyone associated with Dortmund should be proud of.
Few gave them a chance to get past the group stage at the beginning of the season when they were put in a difficult group alongside Paris Saint-Germain, Newcastle United, and AC Milan.
They did not only qualify from the group but also finished as group winners and went the distance after that, defeating PSV, Atlético Madrid, and PSG on their way to Wembley.
Dortmund may be struggling in the Bundesliga, but Erdin Terzić's team of nice guys have pulled off one of the greatest upsets this season by qualifying for the Champions League final.
Leverkusen Bundesliga title win
It is safe to say that Bayer Leverkusen's incredible Bundesliga is the greatest upset in Europe's top five leagues this season.
The German club was founded in 1920, meaning they have been around for 120 years. In those ten dozen years, they have spent 45 in the Bundesliga but had never lifted the trophy.
In fact, they were considered a joke in some quarters and weren't expected to beat their ‘Neverkusen’ moniker, which resulted from their near-misses between 1996-2022 when they finished as runner-ups in four out of six seasons.
But this season, Die Werkself have defied the odds, going from a club struggling to avoid relegation in the summer of 2022 to Bundesliga title winners in April 2024.
The truth is that no one saw their title win coming. Of course, they were playing well under Xabi Alonso, who had moved them 17th place on the table to a top-six finish in seven months, but the best anyone thought Leverkusen would achieve this season was a top-four finish considering their summer recruitment and the strength of other teams.
At the beginning of the season, the consensus was that perennial winners Bayern Munich would retain the title for a 12th consecutive season.
The Bavarians had finally fixed their striker problem, having signed Harry Kane for £86 million that summer and Opta gave them a 52.4% chance to win the title. RB Leipzig, with 33.3%, and Borussia Dortmund, with 12.2%, were the other clubs expected to compete with Bayern for the title.
In contrast, Opta gave Leverkusen a miserly 0.9% chance of becoming Bundesliga champions this season after a mixed summer in which their most expensive buy was the £20m signing of Victor Boniface from Union Saint Gilloise.
But Leverkusen defied those odds by becoming Bundesliga champions this season. They not only won the title, but they did that in fine style, winning the gong with five games to spare while not losing any of their opening 29 league games of the season (W22, D5).
Alonso's men beat every of the current top five, except Borussia Dortmund, along the way, even doing a double over RB Leipzig.
Define upsets!
