10 Football Teams That Over-Performed In 2019/20
It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog.
Not many people will have expected these clubs to have done as well as they have done in their pre-season predictions. If they claimed they did, then they're either geniuses or lying.
Often is it that owners and fans alike will not expect much of certain clubs based on recent history, transfers, managers and many other potential influences, and this rings particularly true of recently promoted clubs whose ambitions are simply to remain in their new division.
If football has taught us anything, it is that everybody loves an underdog story.
Leicester's Premier League triumph in 2015/16, Iceland's heroic run to the 2016 Euro's semi-finals and Ajax's Champions League run in 2018/19. All of these teams earned respect and adoration from footy fanatics around the globe.
Many aspects contribute to a club's downfall when they try to forcefully obtain too much too soon. Fulham, QPR and nearly Aston Villa all got a taste of relegation immediately after throwing £100,000,000 at a brand new playing squad, but that is not what football is about.
Outside of Manchester City and PSG, anyway.
Shrewd business, cohesive units, forward-thinking managers, loyal and passionate fans; let's see which clubs exceeded expectations.
10. Union Berlin
In the biggest season in the club's history - 2019/20 marks their first Bundesliga appearance - Union Berlin certainly won over a lot of favour amongst German crowds.
The capital club won promotion from the second division through the promotion/relegation play-off against Stuttgart with an away-goal victory on aggregate.
Shrewd spending by the club's hierarchy saw smart recruitment including Marcus Ingvartsen, who managed 6 goals and 4 assists in all competitions, Marvin Friedrich became a vital part of the defence that conceded the joint 9th fewest goals, and Christian Gentner and Neven Subotic offered invaluable Bundesliga experience.
Most vitally, though, was the good form of striker Sebastian Andersson who notched up 13 goals and 3 assists in 36 appearances, building upon his fantastic form in their promotion campaign.
En route to a mightily impressive 11th placed league finish, where they beat the likes of Borussia Dortmund, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Eintracht Frankfurt, they also had a fun DFB-Pokal run which saw them reach the quarter-finals.