In Everton, Saint-Étienne, Girondins Bordeaux, Geona and Stuttgart there is a latent concern this season not to lose the category. In their respective leagues, each club has excelled in the top flight. Each one has been a league champion and now they are far from their golden days.
Everton
As for Everton, the Premier League awaits definition not only in the champion that Manchester City and Liverpool fight at the top. With six games to go, those led by Frank Lampard have had a league far from their best years. Rafael Benítez started the tournament with the ‘Toffees’, and left the English strategist in an uncomfortable position.
Undoubtedly, what the team with the most appearances in the top flight, such as Everton, (118) is experiencing is unusual. Those from Goodison Park have been league champions nine times, but now, they occupy the 18th position with 29 points, five points behind Burnley and Leeds, who for now safeguard the Premier League.
Yerry Mina has to hurry in the remaining games, where he will have to face Chelsea, Leicester City, Watford (direct rival for relegation), Brentford, Crystal Palace and Arsenal. He will have three departures from Goodison Park and three locations to define his fate in the Premier League.
The mission of Richarlison, Donny van de Beek, Richarlison, Dele Alli and Yerry Mina will be to save themselves from this catastrophe. Well, Everton has not lost the category since 1951 and will not want to do so with such figures within its squad. Despite flirting so much with the lower zone, they still have time to amend this negative situation that Rafa Benítez initially caused, and with few games, Frank Lampard is going down that path.
Saint Etienne
From England we went to France with the team with the most league titles in Ligue 1, tied with Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique de Marseille. Today, who held his tenth French league in the 1980-81 season is in danger in the French top flight.
Their last promotion to Ligue 1 was in 2003-04 and from that season on, they have remained in the French First Division. However, it is far from winning a title and has had a huge drought since 1981. That is where a legend like Michel Platini became known.
Saint-Étienne is running with a lot of danger this season that has already defined the Paris Saint-Germain championship in the absence of confirming the descendants. In Ligue 1 there are relegation Play-Offs, and the Greens occupy that negative position with 31 units.
After losing to Rennes, they will have to add as much as they can in the three remaining days against Nice, Reims and Nantes, clubs that are enjoying a good present in Ligue 1. If they finish in 18th place, they will face the third-placed team in the Second Division to define your future. Saint-Étienne is chasing Clermont and Troyes who have 33 units.
Bordeaux Girondins
We continue in France with a club that is worse off than its direct rival, Saint-Étienne. Bordeaux won their last Ligue 1 in 2009, and the French Cup in 2013. After relegation in 1991 they rose quickly and have not been relegated since that promotion in ’92.
During the 1980s, Girondins de Bordeaux had its heyday in France. He won three Ligue 1, two runners-up and reached the semifinals of the Champions League in 1985 losing to Juventus. However, the countenance is very far from those times of glory. Four units from Saint-Étienne, and six to be saved are the Girondins this season.
Just like the Saint-Étienne that made a certain Michel Platini famous, Zinedine Zidane had his first steps at Bordeaux from 1992 to 1996 playing the second division and quickly rising to Ligue 1. The Girondins will have to face Nice, Angers, Lorient and Brest to seek salvation.
Genoa
From France we went to Italy. Genoa, who was the first champion of Italian football in 1898 and who holds ten league titles to date, is very close to losing the category, placing himself in the penultimate box of the current Serie A.
The Genoese have been present in the top Italian category for 78 seasons, and since they were last promoted they have remained for fifteen seasons. A historic club without a doubt in Italy that does not want to fall into relegation.
Unfortunately, in a direct match against their main rivals, Sampdoria fell by the slightest difference. Genoa is in the nineteenth position with 25 units, matching Salernitana. Three points separate them from the bottom of the table that Venezia occupies, and three also to save themselves from the relegation that Cagliari maintains. The Genoese have tough games against Napoli, Juventus and Bologna.
Stuttgart
Lastly, from Italy we went to Germany with Stuttgart, which boasts nine titles distributed in five leagues, three German cups, and a German Super Cup, making it one of the successful teams in the Bundesliga. However, far from winning a new Bundesliga (the last one in 2006/07) they are fighting relegation.
Stuttgart remains in the penultimate box where it will have to play the relegation Play-Offs if they finish the Bundesliga in that position, the same as in Ligue 1.
Very far from those recent times with Sami Khedira, Mario Gómez, among other insignia of the Teutonic group. Die Roten will have to leave their good name in the top flight when they face Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich and close with Cologne. With 29 units, they are four behind Hertha Berlin to save themselves and their pursuers like Arminia lurk just two points away.
