As soon as the 2019/20 season has ended, we are bracing for the start of the 2020/2021 football season across Europe. Last year proved that anything can happen in football and around the world, and anyone who tries to predict the outcome of the season is a fool.

So, allow me to play the fool and make 5 predictions to expect from this fresh start season. Will Barcelona continue their apparent breakdown? Will Bayern ever be beaten? Who will be on the move? And which managers are for the chop? Let’s have a look into our crystal Ballon d’Or and see what will be. Que sera as they say.

Enjoy!

Barca Breakdown

Issues at board level, an aging squad running down contracts, managerial issues, no clear direction, poor results, disappointing football and the greatest footballer to ever play the game getting sick of the shitshow. That’s just a few of Barcelona’s ever-growing list of problems and conundrums for the club to overcome.

Less than 10 years since the Catalan side dominated the footballing landscape, and suddenly the game seems to have evolved without them. Whilst the club have assumed their dominance will last, the game has completely changed, meaning Barcelona appear to be a frail, aging shell of their former side. Players such as Pique, Busquets and even Messi are reaching an age whereby they simply cannot be relied on to dominate a 60+ game season at the highest level. Meanwhile, the big-money men such as Griezmann and Dembele are yet to show the peak of their powers. Meanwhile, the teenage revolution does appear promising, however injury and poor player management could quickly damage the potential of the likes of Fati and others.

Those are just the on-field issues for Koeman to rectify, and there are questions regarding his managerial credentials that I won’t get into right now. Off-field, the board at Barcelona are well documented with their issues, and this has been making headlines this summer thanks to Messi finally speaking out over his treatment. Speaking of the goat, his announcement of desire to possibly move on is only going to effect the performance of himself and those around him, fans could quickly turn and optimism will surely fade as the G.O.A.T made it clear he is ready to move on.

It’s certainly not all doom and gloom however for Barcelona. Messi has stayed for at least another year, they have a decent(ish) manager, they have realised they don’t need to splash over the odds on players and there is some serious youth talent on the scene. Additionally, their main league rivals, Real Madrid, are also in similar circumstances, and although Zidane appears to have some form of plan in place, this is no guarantee.

Because of the major issues in both of Spain’s major clubs, I am predicting that Atletico will be ready and waiting to squeeze past their rival clubs and claim their first La Liga title since 2013/14. They have a great squad, a great manager and the chance to capitalise on the issues around them and have a great domestic season.

Bayern Unstoppable

What a 2019/2020 season, what a squad, what dominance. Bayern Munich truly took the footballing world by storm last season. Despite the break and all that surrounded footballs return, they genuinely went about their business like nothing, or no-one would stop them. They won all bar the DFL-Supercup, and this year I’d expect more of the same.

So, to put it simply, my prediction for Bayern is to dominate Europe once again, The Bundesliga is obviously already theirs to claim, whilst the Champions League will, in my opinion, be an absolute breeze for the German giants. In the competition, the Spanish sides have some serious issues, the Italian clubs are almost back to competing but are still a big step behind, PSG will as usual break down in the semi/final and the Premier League clubs will suffer from serious fatigue. This means that Bayern will surely be keeping hold of the big-eared trophy for another season at least, and their fairly young talented squad may just dominate for the next generation and beyond.

They’re On The Move

One of the biggest impacts that the break and lack of fans will have on the footballing landscape is with the amount of money free to be splashed on big money transfers. Many owners will be unwilling to loosen the purse strings beyond the bare minimum.

That being said, I do still believe that we are on the verge of seeing some big moves from some major talents. I think that the failure to secure the Champions League may just be the final straw for the likes of Neymar, who may retreat back to the bosom of Messi, while Mbappe may be swayed by a new fresh challenge. The European elite will, despite the financial hit of 2020, be able to push through some big deals and work around any fair-play rules and regulations.

I believe that we could very well be seeing moves for the likes of Sancho, Messi, Neymar, Mbappe, Dybala, Pogba and many other big names in the near future. No matter who goes where, Jim White will be covering his lap with a pillow for sure with the transfer rumours and speculation heading this way in 2020/2021.

Myotonic GOATs

A myotonic goat is a breed of goat which suffers from a condition whereby when startled, the animal stiffens up and falls over. If you’ll pardon my stretching metaphor, I believe that this may be the year we finally see the condition creeping in to the footballing G.O.A.T.S of Messi and Ronaldo.

Although both have had stunning seasons over 2019/2020, I do believe we may need to accept that these legends of the game won’t be able to play at the same level for ever. With Ronaldo reaching 35, his fitness surely must be waning, while Messi is having some real issues at Barcelona which could force a move. For the 2020/21 season, I think we will continue to see these greats limit their playing time, which although will extend their careers through not picking up silly injuries in meaningless games, it does mean that their bodies can’t carry them through a 50-60 game season as they may have once done.

So, although this is a sad prediction, and one I don’t believe will truly come into effect immediately, we may need to face the reality that we are at the beginning of the end for these legends, and let’s hope and pray that those tipped to step into their shoes have what it takes.

Let’s just enjoy them while we can.

Manager Job Swap

The last of my 5 European predictions is that we may be about to see some some managerial job swaps and quite a lot of change on the managerial front. The likes of Pep and Tuchel may become disheartened by their clubs’ Champions League failures, and may begin looking for alternative challenges. Meanwhile, Nagelsmann is seeming to be a hot property at just 33 years of age and another remarkable season with Leipzig.

Along with these big names, we have the likes of Pochettino who is surely being eyed up by some big European clubs, Allegri, Sarri, Valverde and Setien who are all without a club. Managers such as Zidane, Solskjær and Lampard will have one eye looking over their shoulder as some owners begin eyeing up their replacement.

Trophy Winners Prediction:

Premier League – Liverpool

Bundesliga – Bayern

Serie A – Juventus

La Liga – Atletico Madrid

Ligue 1 – PSG

Champions League – Bayern

Europa League – Tottenham Hotspur