Lots happening in May! The Europa League is in its second month, while lower leagues in England, Italy, and Spain are in full swing.
The Big Five top tier leagues (ENG, GER, ESP, ITA, FRA) and Dutch Eredivisie have all started, as have their respective professional pyramids (non-league competitions start in July).
Derbies
Here’s a round-up of the big matchups and derbies for the month from the top tier leagues.
Midlands Derby: Stoke City v West Brom. The Baggies opened the season with a sweep of Midlands rivals Stoke City. After the game one shutout. Stoke’s bats put runs across the plate in each of games 2 and 3, but Albion had more in the tank, outscoring the Potters 6-3 and 7-3.
London Derby: Tottenham v Fulham. Everyone’s favorite London club Fulham made the trip to White Hart Lane to face Spurs. It was all Tottenham though, they took two out of three games, but the middle game of the series was a resounding 14-1 Whites victory behind C Ataru Suyama (JPN) who went 2-4, 2B, BB. Spurs finish the month in second, Fulham a mid-table 7th.
London Derby: Chelsea v Arsenal. London heavyweights meet for the first time at the Emirates but the Blues get the best of the Gooners, sweeping Arsenal 3-0. Arsenal only scored twice over the weekend while Chelsea saw good performances by P Jose Delgado (ESP), Sorcha Powell (ENG), and Kai Stacey (ENG).
Tyne-and-Ware Derby: Newcastle v Sunderland. North country clubs meet in Sunderland and the home team takes two at the Stadium of Light. The series was fairly evenly matched, with a combined score of 11-13. Newcastle ends the month above their rivals, currently 11th to the Black Cats’ 16th. Early days yet, but Sunderland are just one game out of the first relegation spot.
Merseyside Derby: Liverpool v Everton. These two Liverpool sides play less than a mile from each other and this series was a great one. Liverpool took all three games, but after winning the first 7-3, the second game went to the 16th inning with the Reds as winners despite Everton P Tim Howard (USA) throwing 8.0, 1 H, 1 R, 5 K. The third game also went to extras, Liverpool came from behind to tie it in 8th before plating the winning run in the 10th.
London Derby: QPR v Spurs. Spurs welcomed QPR to White Hart Lane and played three close gams against their cross town rivals. Ultimately the Lilywhites came out on top, beating Rangers 6-4, 6-4, and 5-4. After a month, QPR find themselves in 17th, just outside of the drop zone.
Derbi de la Comunitat: Villarreal v Valencia. A costal derby in the Valencia region, and Villarreal takes them all behind solid pitching that limited Valencia to a single run. Tzintzun pitched in game three, 7.0 IP, 14 K, 2 H.
Madrid Derby: Rayo Vallecano v Real Madrid. Vallecano kept in close against league leaders Madrid in game one, but the smallest of Madrid’s clubs lost 7-6 off a Ronaldo walk-off single. Games two and three were anticlimactic, with Madrid winning handily 9-1, and 8-4.
Madrid Derby: Real Madrid v Atletico. Madrid’s biggest clubs met with Atleti hoping to do better than Rayo but without success. It was a Blancos romp as they swept the Indios, 10-3, 10-9, 14-1. Despite the sweep, Atleti is in good shape, 15-4 and in the Champions League places.
Basque Derby: Athletic Bilbao v Real Sociedad. In the north of Spain, Athleti Bilbao traveled to Anoeta Stadium to face regional rivals Real Sociedad. The Royals took the first two games, with RF Jose Palacio (ESP) batting 3/4, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 R, 2 RBI in game one, and a shutout performance by Jorge Rivera (ESP), 7.1 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 0 R. Bilbao salvaged a win in game three, in an 11-7 slugfest. The teams combined for 24 hits, including 3 HR, two triples, and 4 doubles.
Rhine-Rhur Derby: Borussia Monchengladbach v Koln. Regional rivals from northwest Germany opened the Bundesliga. Monchengladbach took the series 2-1. It’s early in the German season, M’gladbach is sitting 6th at 6-3, Koln is 14th at 3-6.
La Classique: Marseille v PSG. France’s biggest clubs come together for
la Classique with PSG taking the series in two games. PSG walked it off 4-3 in game one, and their pitchers shut out Marseille 2-0 in game two. Olympique salvaged a win in game 3 when their bats came alive and they beat les Bleus 8-3.
Intercontinental Derby: Fenerbahce v Galatasaray. The two teams from either side of the Bosporus meet and Galatasaray needs some wins. The Lions came in of a terrible April and promptly lost 12-1 to Fenerbahce. But things turned around in the next two games, which they won 5-2 and 8-1 to finish the series at 7-17. Fenerbahce is not much better at 11-3. Cross-town rivals Besiktas and Istanbul Basaksehir are looking down on the two clubs from the top of the table.
Nicosia Derby: APOEL v Omonia. Cyprus’ two big clubs meet and it’s all APOEL. The Champions League team dominated Omonia, sweeping them by a total score of 23-8. APOEL pitcher Edward Ruth (GER) held off an Omonia rally in game one, while April’s Player of the Month, Jayden Bull took home his first L of the season. In game 3, APOEL 3B Alanzo Petrocelli (ITA) went 4/5, with 3 R and 2 RBI. The two teams are hovering at .500, both at 14-13.
Copenhagen Derby: Brondby v Kobenhavn. Big brother Copenhagen took two from Brondby in their high scoring series. The games were evenly matched, going Copenhagen 8-5, Brondby 7-3, Copenhagen 3-2. The two teams left the series a couple of games above .500.
Tel Aviv Derby: Hapoel v Maccabi. Rival clubs from Israel met and it was all Hopel Tel Aviv. The Red Demons came in to the series 24-12 and left 27-12, good for third place in the South.
Double Istanbul Derby: Basaksehir v Galatasaray and Besiktas v Fenerbahce. Two Istanbul derbies must have created crowd control nightmares when all four Istanbul clubs were in action against each other on the same weekend. Of the four, Basaksehir is in better shape, currently 4th in the South and fighting for a Champions League place, but they dropped 2 of 3 to Galatasaray who are otherwise having a poor season. Besiktas are in first in the South, and they took 2 games from Fenerbahce, who are a lukewarm .500 team.
Standings, Leaders, and Awards
Standings
Standings are in the attachments. Gold represents Champions League places, green is promotion places, red is relegation. The lighter colors indicate teams in the hunt.
Still early days for most leagues, but in the Europa League North, IHK is off to a strong start. In the South, Galati is doing terribly. It’s all bad news for the Romanian side at 4-43 after two months and with the Champions League Group Stage looming in July.
In Italy, the Milan clubs are going strong out the gate, while Coppa winners Crotone are out in front of Serie B and gunning for promotion.
Spain’s heavyweights are off to good starts with an El Classico matchup not on the books until July.
Leaders
Let’s talk stats!
In the Premier League, Manchester United 1B Danny Lara (ESP) is hitting well with 11 HR and a slash line of .408 (4) / .500 (T-1) / .930 (1). He also leads in OPS (1.43)) and RBI (27). On the mound, Chelsea’s Petr Cech (CZE) is in good form with a 4-1 record, 3 complete games, 42.0 IP, and 54K. Suprs’ Brad Friedel (USA) leads in ERA, 0.45.
La Liga is dominated by two hitters, you know who they are. Messi and RONaldo lead in almost every category. Ronaldo is more consistently in first, leading the Argentine in AVG (.566 to .560), HR (13 to 10), SLG (1.276 to 1.053), OPS (1.896 to 1.689) and H (43 to 42). Messi has the edge in OBP (.635 to .620), R (37 to 34), and SB (16 to 15). Competition on the mound is a lot more varied. Valencia’s Francisco Aguirre (ESP) leads with a 0.77 ERA over 35.0 IP. Villarreal’s Victor Tzintzun (ESP) leads with 5 W and no losses with 35.1 IP. Granada pitcher Armin Loidl (AUT) has 57 K to his name.
Juve’s Arturo Vidal (CHL) is that league’s leading hitter so far with a slash of .532/.623/1.129. Haunting Vidal is Milan’s Zlatan (SWE) who’s second or third in almost every category. In HR, however, Genoa CF Romao Laires (VEN) is the league leader with 13. On the bump, Lazio ace Sean Doyle (ENG) has a 0.00 ERA over 39.2 IP with 5 wins. Inter’s Anatole Beal (CAN) is the leader in Ks with 74.
Eden Hazard continue’s his dominant form from the Coupe de France, leading Ligue 1 in hitting, .576/.677/1.045, RBI (28), H (38), R (27) and OPS (1.723). He’s only sixth in HR, that lead goes to three players tied for 9. The pitching stats are spread around the league. PSG’s Oscar Veiga (BRZ) has a 0.56 ERA and 4-0 record, 32.0 IP. Brest’s Johannes Jahina (MLI) has a 5-0 record. Dijon’s Felix Sena (POR) has 49K.
Month two in the Europa League sees familiar face Felicio Soranzo (Astana, KAZ) ahead in most stats in the Northern League: 15 HR, .450 OBP, .719 SLG, 1.169 OPS, 44 R. He’s joined by Southern League superstar in the making, Manny Alvarado (Besiktas, TUR), who is batting .460/.556/.937, 1.492 OPS, 20 HR, 60 R.
The pitching stats in the NoL have IHK’s (SWE) Adrian Adabash (MDV) on top in ERA with 1.02, Astana Devis Aliu is top in wins with a 7-2 record, he also leads with 72.1 IP. Champions League side Basel (SUI) have the lead in K, Diepolt Kurtz (GER) has 90. In the south Omonia’s Jayden Bull continues his strong start, leading in ERA with 0.88, K with 110, and in a multi-way tie for W with 7.
Awards
Awards for hitter (H) and pitcher (P) for the month are in!
- ENG – (H) Lara, Manchester United | (P) Friedel, Spurs
- ESP – (H) Ronaldo, Real Madrid | (P) Tzintzun, Villarreal
- ITA – (H) Zlatan, Milan | (P) Sean Doyle (ENG), Lazio
- FRA – (H) Hazard, Lille | (P) Jahina, Brest
- EUR N – (H) Joe Kramer (USA), Grasshoppers (SUI) | Douggie Rider (ENG), Midtjylland (DEN)
- EUR S – (H) Alvarado, Besiktas | (P) Callum Jones (ENG), Split (CRO)
Pro/Rel Watch
The fight for promotion and relegation is on across Europe. Here’s how things stand on 31 May.
In most leagues it’s still too early to start picking out likely candidates, but there are some outliers.
In France, Thonon is winless in 19 games and is already looking like relegation fodder.
Europa South’s Galati is similarly miserable, they’re 4-43 and will need a miracle to stay in the league.
Meanwhile
The pre-season has started in Portugal, Belgium, and Russia. Those seasons will open in early June.
Some other trivia:
- Inter Milan P Jens Fltskog (SWE) pitched no-no v Palermo on 12 May.
- The next day Inter Milan P Sal Vargas (MEX) pitched a perfect game v Catania.
- Trying to keep tabs on their local rival, AB Milan P Jamie Bone (ENG) perfect game v Cesena on 11 May, giving the Milan teams two perfectos and a no-hitter in a three day span.
- Alvarado’s hit streak ended at 22. The longest active current streaks are Ronaldo and Hazard, tied with 19 and counting…