The points tally needed to win a league title in one of Europe’s top five leagues has increased massively over the years, if the records for most points in a single season are anything to go by.
The concentration of wealth and talent in a select few teams across the continent means these records have all been set relatively recently.
It’s become increasingly difficult to challenge the biggest clubs for top honours unless you have a sugar daddy owner, and even then that’s no guarantee of success.
We’ve looked back at the teams who set these records, but you can probably already guess who each of them are. It should come as no surprise to anyone that they were all set during the 2010s, which truly was the era of the superclub.
The most points won in a single season across Europe’s top five leagues:
Premier League: Manchester City – 100 points (2017–18)
After a shaky first season in the Premier League, Pep Guardiola got to grips with English football fairly quickly. His Manchester City team set multiple records on their way to winning the title in his second campaign.
That includes most wins (32), most away wins (16), the longest run of consecutive wins (18), the best goal difference (+79) and, of course, the most points in a season. City reached the century on the final day thanks to a late Gabriel Jesus goal against Southampton.
Liverpool seemed destined to break that record in 2020, but fell just short on 99 points.
The best England kits of all time as new jerseys revealed
La Liga: Real Madrid (2011/12) and Barcelona (2012/13) – 100 points
Guardiola’s Barcelona dominated everyone in sight after he took the reins at Camp Nou, but Jose Mourinho bested the Catalan coach in his second season. Los Blancos won La Liga with a record 100 points in 2012.
Not to be outdone, Barcelona reacted by destroying the league the following year, matching their most hated rival’s record under the management of Guardiola’s successor, Tito Vilanova.
Real, though, do hold the record for the most points of all time across the history of the Spanish top flight (4,936 at the time of writing).
Serie A: Juventus – 102 points (2013/14)
No team in Europe’s top five leagues have ever accumulated more points in a single season than Antonio Conte’s Juventus in 2014.
The Old Lady tasted defeat just twice across 38 games as they won a third consecutive Scudetto, although oddly enough they won more points than in 2011/12 when they went a whole season unbeaten.
Who has been the Premier League player of the season so far?
Bundesliga: Bayern Munich – 91 points (2012/13)
Bayern Munich have come closer than any other side to a perfect season, losing just one and drawing four of their 34 Bundesliga games in 2012/13 while amassing 91 points.
The Bavarian outfit enjoyed arguably their greatest ever campaign, winning a treble of trophies including the UEFA Champions League under manager Jupp Heynckes.
Pep Guardiola could not match that points total during his time in charge, although he did set the record for longest unbeaten start to a season by going 28 games without defeat in his first campaign.
Ligue 1: Paris St. Germain – 96 points (2015/16)
Perhaps it is slightly surprising that PSG have not breached the 100-point barrier at any point over the past decade given their incredible wealth advantage over the rest of the league, but Laurent Blanc did lead the club to the highest points total in French top-flight history in 2016.
Monaco came within one point of matching their Parisian rivals the following season when Kylian Mbappe and Bernardo Silva made a name for themselves at The Stade Louis II.
Interestingly, Blanc’s successor Unai Emery is generally seen as having been a failure at PSG, yet his side take two of the best points hauls in Ligue 1 history, accumulating 87 and 93 points in his two seasons in the French capital.
Read – Every unbeaten season in Europe’s top five leagues
Ranked – The five favourites to sign Callum Wilson
Subscribe to our social channels:
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube
