Here is the top 10 talking points of the 2022/23 season
This season brought a lot of interesting and shocking moments; from Arsenal’s sudden title push to Napoli’s terrific domestic form and Manchester City’s historic treble. We bring you the top 10 talking points of the 2022/23 season:
10. Juventus’ tough season
Juventus arguable had the worst season in the Serie A this season. Earlier parts of the season, they were deducted 15 points for false accounting but it was later overturned. As a result of the initial rumors, several directors of the board resigned and some earned a further ban from football activities, including, Fabio Paratici who was Spurs’ football director at the time. During Juve’s run in the Europa League semis, they were deducted 10 points and this significantly impacted their season. Ultimately, they finished the season with 62 points while earning a Conference League qualification spot. They would have finished 4th, behind Napoli, Lazio and Inter Milan with 72 points if their 10 points deduction was restored.
9. Newcastle United’s Champions League Qualification
Newcastle United made a surprise entry into the top four this season and finishing the season 4th, earning a place in next season’s Champions League. Newcastle showed great character with the help of Eddie Howe after they narrowly escaped relegation last season. They even made it to the EFL Cup final where they lost 2-0 to Manchester United. Eddie Howe has done a great job so far and hopes the team’s form stays and surges upwards next season.
8. Dortmund’s title slip
Following the FIFA World Cup, Dortmund found their mojo, chasing Bayern Munich for the Bundesliga title to the end. In fact, as at the final matchday, Dortmund were top of the league and needed a win to cement their triumph over Bayern Munich for the league title. However, as Bayern won their game against Koln, Dortmund only managed a draw against Mainz, losing the Bundesliga title to Bayern Munich who equally endured a rough season.
7. Bayern Munich’s woes
At the beginning of the season, Julian Nagelsmann was in charge of the team, and was doing quite well with the team although there was a lot of inconsistencies. Regardless of their inconsistent domestic form, Bayern was in the DFB Pokal Cup, 1st on the Bundesliga table and a strong contender to win the Champions League after they thrashed PSG in the round of 16.
Due to several reasons, Nagelsmann was sacked and quickly replaced with Thomas Tuchel. Tuchel on the other hand got off to a rough start; they were thrashed in the UCL quarter-final by Manchester City and knocked out of the DFB Pokal Cup by Freiburg. They also slipped to second place in the Bundesliga. Eventually, they managed to secure the Bundesliga title after Dortmund failed to win their last game. At the conclusion of the season, CEO Oliver Khan and their Sporting director were relived of their duties.
6. Napoli’s incredible domestic form and underwhelming European performance
Napoli were able to secure their first Scudetto in thirty years, when Diego Mardona was playing for them. Luciano Spallettii, who guided the team to this incredible feat unfortunately decided to leave his role as head coach after the season ended. Napoli were unable to channel the same form towards their Coppa Italia run. Similarly, they were knocked out of the UCL quarter-finals by AC Milan, after being seen as contenders during the group stages.
5. Arsenal’s sudden title push
Arsenal made a surprise push for the Premier League title after putting in a lot of effort from the first half of the season. At a time, Arsenal were even 7 points ahead of Manchester City; however, inconsistencies after January cost them the Premier League. They also lost out in both the FA Cup and EFL Cup. Their Europa League run was equally underwhelming. The Gunners ended the season with no trophies in their name despite a lot of impressive performances in the Premier League this season. In the end, they finished the season in second place, five points behind Manchester City and 9 points ahead of third place Manchester United.
4. Morocco’s run to the into the World Cup 3rd and 4th play-offs
Morocco made Africans proud by pushing their way though in the World Cup and placing 4th in the tournament. They advanced top of their group, ahead of Croatia, Belgium and Canada without losing a game. In the knockout stages, they went past Spain and Portugal before losing to France and Croatia in the semis and 3rd and 4th place respectively.
3. Chelsea’s underwhelming season
Chelsea probably had the worst season of all the teams in Europe’s top five leagues this season. Following Todd Boehly’s takeover, The Blues have spent significant amount of money on transfer but it did not yield anything productive. Chelsea’s woes started when Tuchel was sacked. Anthony Barry then took temporary charge of the team until Graham Potter was appointed. Potter got off to a good start but things started to decline rapidly.
Chelsea continue performing worse under Potter until they were out of reach from Champions League placement. Potter was then sacked an replaced with Lampard on an interim basis. This did not improve their results and ultimately Chelsea finished 12th in the league with 44 points, 27 points behind 4th placed Newcastle.
2. Lionel Messi and Argentina’s World Cup triumph
To many, Lionel Messi sealed his status as the football GOAT following his World Cup triumph with Argentina. After the first round of games in the group stages, Argentina had shockingly lost to Saudi Arabia and were no longer considered as favourites. However, they bounced back during their second game and finally met France at the finals where they played what will go down as one of the best World Cup finals ever; it ended 3-3 at the end of extra, where Mbappe had scored a hat-trick. Argentina went on to win the penalty shootout after Emiliano Martinez’s heroics.
1. Manchester City’s historic treble triumph
Pep Guardiola led Manchester City to a historic treble after beating Arsenal to the Premier League title, beating Manchester United to win the FA Cup and beating Inter Milan to win the Champions League. They have become the second English team to accomplish this feat while Pep Guardiola became the second manager to win the treble two times. There is no doubt that this feat of City is our top choice out of the top 10 talking points of the 2022/23 season.
Conclusion
These are not the only interesting talking points of the season and it includes Liverpool’s sudden drop to Europa League status, Manchester United’s rise to consistency under ten Hag, Atletico Madrid’s underwhelming season, Sevilla’s 7th straight success in the Europa League, Leicester City’s relegation and many others.
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