The rise and fall of some of Europe's best clubs

Its brilliant to see the likes of Napoli and Genoa back in Serie A and on the up, not just consolidating but looking strong and making an impression in the league.


However, ive just seen the Danish table and saw Brondby down in 9th (out of 11) position, its a terrible shame to see such a grand club in such a slump. They are not alone, look at France and PSG have only just survived. In Norway Rosenborg are 10th (out of 12) and already well off title pace in a leage they used to demolish every season.

In Spain Valenica and Zaragoza should be battling it out for places in Europe, yet they too have been involved in a relegation battle and this time tomorrow, Zaragoza could be down. Also in Serie A Parma face Inter tomorrow knowing they could be playing in Serie B next season.

It just goes to show how nothing is set in stone in football, history counts for nothing at the end of the day. But could this happen in the future to one of the truly massive clubs, a Liverpool, a u*d, a Milan or a Real, it seems unthinkable and is incredibly unlikly, but i guess its possible should the club fall into the wrong hands.....just ask Leeds fans.

Yes, things can change quite quickly. Lens, a great club in France this decade is relegated. It's funny because at the beginning of the season, the players of each club give their prognostics on who's going to win the league. Half of the Lens players thought they were going to win it. The manager of the club, Guy Roux, at that time was particularly furious to see his players dreaming, and he was right. For Paris, it will be the same thing next year, they will battle for relegation. Last year, Nantes go relegated, and they were a very good team quite a while ago.
You forgot to mention Dortmund, which lies 13th in the German league

Dortmund seems to be the biggest example of things going wrong, no disrespect to Leeds, but the Germans actually won trophies of note.

Leeds, while their crash was amazing, coining the phrase "do a Leeds", were only really starting to get things going for themselves in England, where they were still outsiders, let alone Europe.

Dortmund with their massive crowds and big history is to me the saddest example of a club going wrong... and there doesn't seem to be any signs of pulling out of their nose dive any time soon.

To think that Paulo Sousa lifted a European Cup with them...

Leeds actually won the League in the early 90s, they weren't completely without pedigree - though the 70s was their heydey (they did once reach the European Cup final).

So while they didn't have quite the recent success of Dortmund, the consequences of their collapse was kinda more spectacular. Dortmund haven't actually been relegated - they're even going to be in the UEFA cup next year - Leeds might be playing Hereford and Rochdale.

I predicted Lens to finish second this year...

Yeah, as debaser has said, Leeds are/were a massive club in the UK.

Their European Cup semi-final against Celtic set the UK record for crowd attendance at 136,505.

Their demise is very significant, and it is the fault, mainly, of one arrogant man: Peter Ridsdale.

ajax

Parma have been consigned to Serie B today.

A decade ago they had the likes of Buffon, Cannavaro, Thuram, Fuser, Veron, Chiesa & Crespo in their squad.

Parma's relegation is one of the most disappointing relegations we have seen for a while. It was only a few years ago they had all those players, and were one of the top clubs in Italy. I think this all started as soon as Parmalat went bankrupt.

I just hope they return straight away.

Parma's backers going bust with huge court case didn't help.

All the Parma old boys like Crespo, Veron, Gillardino etc should go back and play for free for a season to help them out...they could create an awsome team.

They are our twinned club...so all us Doria fans will feel gutted for Parma.

Don't forget Buffon.

Thuram, Asprilla, Zola, but all a bit old now. They did well to survive collapse of Parmalat for so long. Hope they bounce straight back.

The collapse of Parmalat is what did it. The season that happened, Parma still finished in 5th place. After that, they went on a demise. I remember watching their relegation playoff against Bologna and being so pleased for them (Sebastien Frey was immense that match). Ever since they've just been battling relegation and finally got relegated.

Really is a loss to Serie A.

EMP wrote:Thuram, Asprilla, Zola, but all a bit old now. They did well to survive collapse of Parmalat for so long. Hope they bounce straight back.

.....Buffon, Cannavaro, Benarrivo, Crippa, Chiesa etc, it would be brilliant.

debaser wrote:Leeds actually won the League in the early 90s, they weren't completely without pedigree - though the 70s was their heydey (they did once reach the European Cup final).

So while they didn't have quite the recent success of Dortmund, the consequences of their collapse was kinda more spectacular. Dortmund haven't actually been relegated - they're even going to be in the UEFA cup next year - Leeds might be playing Hereford and Rochdale.

Oh I know they won the league, that's why I mentioned they were starting to make their mark... but they weren't European Champions.

Leeds' crash might be greater in the results for the club, but I think Dortmund's was from a higher degree. Having said that, as you mention, Dortmund isn't dead... while Leeds are probably wishing they were.

Well...Nottingham Forest have only just made it back to the Championship.

Cesc Soler wrote:Parma have been consigned to Serie B today.

A decade ago they had the likes of Buffon, Cannavaro, Thuram, Fuser, Veron, Chiesa & Crespo in their squad.

Pretty crazy to think of. Really shows the power of Serie A in the 90s that relativly small Parma had such a squad.

Villarreal should take note.

West Ham e Sampdoria wrote:Well...Nottingham Forest have only just made it back to the Championship.

Always amazes me that this club is a bi-champion of Europe.

Luso wrote:

West Ham e Sampdoria wrote:Well...Nottingham Forest have only just made it back to the Championship.

Always amazes me that this club is a bi-champion of Europe.

Pretty big club though...were even getting crowds of 23,000 (I think) in League One (3rd tier).

I watched Parma play Rangers 4 times in successive seasons and let me tell you that both of their sides were fooking amazing. Some of the best football I've seen in Scotland was played by Parma during the 1-1 game at Ibrox in 1998.

Parma's 1998 team:

Buffon, Bennarivo, Sartor, Baggio, Crespo, Veron, Stanic, Boghossain, Cannavaro, Balbo, Thuram. Subs: Guardalden, Pedros, Giunti, Sensini, Orlandini, Fiore, Vanol.

Parma's 1999 team:

Buffon, Sartor, Baggio, Ortega, Boghossian, Cannavaro, Di Vaio, Thuram, Serena, Vanoli, Walem. Subs: Micillo, Benarrivo, Breda, Fuser, Stanic, Torrisi, Montano.

Parma players who impressed me in these games:

Boghossian

Thuram

Buffon

Ortega (took the absolute piss out of Rangers in Italy)

Walem (Belgian player, wasn't he? Very technical but slight in stature)

The following three were particularly brilliant in Glasgow in 1998

Abel Balbo

Crespo

Veron

Baggio (played well in both games in 1999)

Cannavaro got sent off in the first-half in the first-leg at Ibrox, so he never got a chance to impress me.

West Ham e Sampdoria wrote:

Luso wrote:

West Ham e Sampdoria wrote:Well...Nottingham Forest have only just made it back to the Championship.

Always amazes me that this club is a bi-champion of Europe.

Pretty big club though...were even getting crowds of 23,000 (I think) in League One (3rd tier).

They must be or European Champions wouldn't have been a possibility, but aside from their size, the fact that they're where they are now is the part that amazes me the most..now that's a fall.