We've all heard the expression "sleeping giant", we can all point to serial underachievers in our domestic league but who really is the biggest basket case of a club found around Europe. If I were to ask you all to name biggest underachiever in your domestic league I suspect the names of Manchester City and Newcastle United would be shouted at me by the English readers, the Spaniards and Real Madrid fans would have no hesitation in suggesting their cross town neighbours Atleti. To be fair to Atleti, Europa League title in 2010 and a domestic double back 1996 has given them some breathing space.
Looking at the trophy cabinets of German and French clubs points the finger squarley at the capital clubs Paris St. Germain and Hertha Berlin although I'm sure Schalke would be pretty unhappy with their recent achievements.
In Italy it is difficult to identify a side that obviously performed way below it's natural level, Inter Milan acquired an unwanted reputation for choking but even in their Serie "A" draught they still claimed the odd Uefa cup and Coppa Italia, however following the Mancini and Mourinho dominance culminating in a treble in 2010 this has been laid to bed. Possibly Lazio should be labelled Italy's laughing stock, only Sergio Cragnotti's lavish spending in the late 90's leaves this as a question mark.
Dutch football has always been dominated by the big clubs from Amsterdam, Eindhoven and Rotterdam and with all of these clubs winning the European Cup it would be harsh to label any of them underachievers.
I would argue that there are certain clubs that don't spring to the imagination straight away that should be considered as massive underachievers- these would be Real Betis of Spain and Udinese of Italy. So for the sake of this blog I will look at the "claims" of the following clubs, Manchester City, Real Betis, Paris St. Germain, Hertha Berlin and Lazio to determine who should take the title of Europe's biggest loser. It may the first title they have won in years!
Manchester City (2 League Championships, 4 FA Cups, 2 League Cups, 1 European Cup Winners Cup)
English football is littered with underachievers, the revered Leeds side of Don Revie only managed to win 2 championships, 2 Fairs Cups and 1 FA Cup in 13 year period but they would settle for a slice of this success now after spending too much time in the third tier. Some would argue that two time European Cup winners Nottingham Forest are major underachievers in recent seasons but I would suggest that during Clough's reign they genuinely punched above their weight and that since his retirement in 1993 they have returned to their natural level.
Newcastle are a huge club with limited success to put it mildly, no league title since 1927 and no honour at all since the moon landings (if they ever happened) but all of these clubs are nothing compared to the Blue side of Manchester.
Officially the world's richest club when the Abu Dhabi United Group Investment and Development Limited completed their takeover in 2008 but without a major honour since before The Sex Pistols unleashed "Nevermind The Bollocks" on the world. However if you ever need to be reminded how long it is since their last bit of silverware take a trip to Old Trafford and look up at the Stretford End to see the "35 Years" banner which refers to the lack of trophies their 1976 League Cup win. Even before the Arab takeover this barren spell was far too lengthy for a club that had an average attendance of over 32,000 when they spent a year in the 3rd tier of the English game however unless they can overturn their city neighbours on Saturday at Wembley then they will appear on lists such as this for a while.
Paris St. Germain (2 League Championships, 8 French Cups, 3 League Cups, 1 Cup Winners Cup)
The only professional club located in a metropolitan area of Paris with a population over 11 million has scandalously underachieved. Imagine what Chelsea could have achieved with no Arsenal, Tottenham or West Ham in London to get a sense of perspective. A club that has two Fifa Player of the Year winners in George Weah and Ronaldinho but no trophy since 1996 really has to be classified as massive underachievers when set against Marseille's 19 titles and the fact that Monaco, Lyon, Nantes and Bordeaux have won the title at least 5 times each!!
Real Betis (1 League Championships, 2 Copa Del Reys)
One of three teams to defeat the great Barcelona team put together by Pep Guardiola however this was in the Copa Del Rey whilst Betis languish in the Segunda Division in Spain after being relegated in 2009. Spain's 6th best supported club has been in shadows of their traditionally smaller neighbours Sevilla who won back to back Uefa Cups in the new millennium but they appear to be on the way back as they sit top of the league but to give an indication of how they are struggling Barcelona's 'B' team sits only 6 points behind in third. With only two Copa del Rey's since the Spanish Civil War it is about time that a club of this size made headlines for the right reasons other than spunking £20 million on Denilson.
Lazio (2 League Championships, 5 Copa Italia, 1 European Cup Winners Cup)
The barb often aimed at Manchester City is that despite spending £475 million since 2003 (http://www.transferleague.co.uk/) they still have a bare trophy cabinet at least when Lazio splashed the cash in the late 90's when Sven Goran Eriksson was in charge they had trophies to show for it! Christian Vieri was signed for 19 million in 1998, Juan Veron joined him in 1999 for £18 million in and in 2000 £35 million was spent on Hernan Crespo allowing Lazio to capture the Italian Cup in 1998 and 2000, The Serie'A' title in 2000 with the last European Cup Winners Cup title secured at Villa Park. Without this 3 year purple patch the club from the capital's record would be decidedly average with only 5 others trophies won in their 111 year history, the reasons for Lazio's slide back into mediocrity would appear to have been Sven's decision to manage the English national side followed quickly by the liquidation of Cragnotti's Cirio company in 2002.
A more left wing argument (no pun intended when compiling an article on Sinisa Mihajlovic's Lazio) would be to include Udinese who are a fixture in Serie 'A' and could well make their 2nd appearance in the Champions League next season but as yet are to open their account when it comes to major honours. With a capacity of over 40,000 this is a club of some repute and I can't think of another club around Europe to draw a blank on this scale.
Hertha Berlin (3 Bundasliga's)
If you want to get an indication on what a calamity Hertha are, just consider the story of the last two seasons. In 2008 - 2009 Hertha were leading the way in the Bundasliga for much of the campaign with a series of 1 - 0 victories pushing them to the summit, however they ran out of steam and Wolfsburg pipped them to the title. The next season they finished bottom.....stone last. If you are thinking that every side can underachieve from time to time you are going to easy on them, their last title was in 1931. Its at this stage that fellow underachievers but current Champions League semi finalists Schalke breathe a massive sigh of releif for the massive chokers from the capital.
Thats why I would nominate Hertha Berlin is Europe's biggest loser just nudging out PSG.
