Are Liverpool or Manchester City on course for a record runner-up season?

“Liverpool could finish on 97 points this season and finish second to Manchester City,” writes our very own Rob Smyth. “Would this be a record? And if not, what is the highest points tally amassed by a second-placed team?”

Let’s start in England where, as recently as 2011-12, Manchester United finished on 89 points, level with Manchester City, only to lose out on goal difference because of Agüeroooooooooo! This is the English record in a 38-game season and barring a Devon Loch-style collapse, Liverpool or Manchester City (who could finish second on 96 points) look set to break this comfortably.

Premier League (2011-12 )
Manchester City P38 W28 D5 L5 F93 A29 +64 89
Manchester United P38 W28 D5 L5 F89 A33 +56 89

In 1970-71, Don Revie’s Leeds finished second on 64 points, one point behind Arsenal. In an era of two points for a win that was quite a tally and meant they would have collected 91 points in a three-points-for-a-win season, but they played 42 games, not 38, and we are pretty sure Manchester United would have surpassed that total given another four games in 2012.

Division One (1970-71)
Arsenal P42 W29 D7 L6 F71 A29 +42 65
Leeds United P42 W27 D10 L5 F72 A30 +42 64

Leeds tried but failed to pip Arsenal to the title having collected a record points total for a second-placed English team in a two-points-for-a-win season.Photograph: Colorsport/Rex

In a 34-game season, Martin Jol’s Ajax finished on 85 points in 2009-10 with a staggering +86 goal difference. It wasn’t good enough to pip Steve McClaren’s Twente to the title, though. Despite scoring 43 goals fewer, Twente crucially accrued one point more. But in Portugal Sporting went one point better than Ajax, collecting 86 but finishing runners-up to Benfica.

Primeira Liga (2015-16)
Benfica P34 W29 D1 L4 F88 A22 +66 88
Sporting P34 W27 D5 L2 F79 A21 +58 86

To find serious competition for Liverpool or City we should look at leagues where two elite clubs have pushed each other to dizzy heights. Maurizio Sarri’s Napoli gamely held on to Juve’s coat-tails in 2017-18 only to see the Scudetto-hogging champions race away as they rounded the final bend. Still, it led to Napoli collecting their greatest ever points tally in a Serie A season.

Serie A (2017-18)
Juventus P38 W30 D5 L3 F86 A24 +62 95
Napoli P38 W28 D7 L3 F77 A29 +48 91

Surely we can find a better runner-up in La Liga, though? In José Mourinho’s debut campaign at Real Madrid, his team scored 102 goals, amassed 92 points but finished four points behind Barcelona, who were in the midst of their peak tiki-taka years.

La Liga (2010-11)
Barcelona P38 W30 D6 L2 F95 A21 +74 96
Real Madrid P38 W29 D5 L4 F102 A33 +69 92

Cristiano Ronaldo scored 33 goals and Gonzalo Higuaín scored 29 as Real Madrid finished second to Barcelona in 2009-10.Photograph: Manu Fernandez/AP

Mind you, Mourinho can still consider himself lucky not to be sacked if the previous season is considered a failure. In 2009-10 Manuel Pellegrini was sent packing having gobbled up 96 points, three behind Barça.

La Liga (2009-10)
Barcelona P38 W31 D6 L1 F98 A24 +74 99
Real Madrid P38 W31 D3 L4 F102 A35 +67 96

But having cast our net to Glasgow, we can report that Liverpool would only equal a record total for a 38-game runner-up set by Martin O’Neill’s Celtic. His Henrik Larsson-powered side missed out on the Scottish title to Rangers by a single goal in 2003, having amassed 97 points.

Scottish Premier League (2002-03)
Rangers P38 W31 D4 L3 F101 A28 +73 97
Celtic P38 W31 D4 L3 F98 A26 +72 97

Not many teams lose only one game in a season and miss out on the title, though. Rarer still are those who go unbeaten only to finish second. As we have touched on in this column before, Perugia did this in the 1978-79 Serie A season. Curse those dastardly draws.

Serie A (1978-79)
Milan P30 W17 D10 L3 F46 A19 +27 44
Perugia P30 W11 D19 L0 F34 A16 +18 41

Who has played in Europe for the longest streak?

“Anderlecht are in very real danger of missing out on European football for the first time since 1963-64. Can any clubs match or beat their streak of 55 seasons in European competition?” asks Stijn.

The Belgian heavyweights’ European pedigree is quite something, Stijn, but if we cast our eyes towards the Camp Nou we can find a team whose European heritage runs deeper. “Barcelona have competed in Europe in every season since the inaugural 1955-56 campaign when both the European Cup and Inter-Cities Fairs Cup were launched,” writes Ron Cruz.

“Although the first two Fairs Cup tournaments were spread out over three (1955-58) and two (1958-60) seasons Barça were involved in both tournaments. So that means they were involved in European football for all five campaigns. They have never failed to qualify for Europe since. The 2019-20 campaign will mark 65 seasons and counting.

Anderlecht (in white shirts) in action against Nottingham Forest in the Uefa Cup semi-final of 1984.Photograph: Robert Vanden Brugge/AFP/Getty Images

“On a side note, in 1976-77 Real Madrid finished ninth in La Liga and were knocked out of the Copa del Rey in the third round. It meant they did not compete in Europe during the 1977-78 season.” It was one of only two occasions the 13-times European champions failed to qualify for Europe, the other being 1996-97.

What happens when a club chooses to play without a manager?

“Has a professional team ever played for a season, or a significant chunk of one, without any kind of manager? If so, what happened?” asks Ravi Somaiya.

“At the start of the 1938-39 season, the legendary trainer Paul Osswald left Eintracht Frankfurt, having taken them to their first local league title since 1932, and the club’s hierarchy decided to play on without a trainer,” begins Andrew Burrows. “The season started well, with the club briefly top of the table, but team lineups became ever more experimental, with players playing out of position, and results suffered. In January 1939, former fitness coach Otto Boer was brought in to supervise training, but results didn’t improve and Eintracht finished third. (NB; at this time, German football was still officially amateur.)”

Knowledge archive

“Daryl Murphy has, over three loan spells, made 90 league appearances for Ipswich without ever being signed for them. Are there any players who have made a large number of appearances for a club who they’ve not been on the books at?” asked Alex Cole in May 2013.

Gav Maclean suggested a number of Chelsea players and no one fitted the bill better than Michael Mancienne. He played six times for Chelsea– and 121 times during various loan spells with QPR and Wolves. Juan Sebastián Verón also played only 14 times for Chelsea, before racking up a number of appearances during subsequent loan spells with Inter and Estudiantes.

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