There have been unimaginable scenes within the Swedish high flight on Monday as Mjällby AIF, plucky upstarts and heroes of the Allsvenskan season, beat heavyweights IFK Göteborg to clinch probably the most unlikely of league titles.
The very important 2-0 victory sparked jubilant celebrations on the pitch, because the consequence cementing an unassailable 11-point lead for Mjällby on the high of the desk with three fixtures of the marketing campaign remaining. The crew who hail from the small fishing group of Hällevik (inhabitants: 800) on the Baltic Sea will play within the UEFA Champions League in 2026-27.
Mjällby’s story is made all of the extra unimaginable by the truth that they’ve been guided to glory by Anders Torstensson, a faculty principal-turned-head coach who had by no means coached skilled soccer at senior degree till 2023. Having nearly been worn out of existence while enjoying within the Swedish third tier in 2016 resulting from monetary points, the membership have additionally operated on a meagre finances which they’ve bolstered by nurturing youth expertise and shifting them on to greater golf equipment round Europe.
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Mjällby managed to seek out their ft and return to the Allsvenskan in 2020, establishing themselves as a midtable outfit. They completed fifth final season, 15 factors behind champions Malmö, however an impressive run of type and outcomes by means of the 2025 marketing campaign has seen them energy to the primary top-tier honor within the membership’s 86-year historical past.
After all, Mjällby’s underdog heroics have been in comparison with that of Leicester Metropolis, who additionally upset the bookmakers to win the Premier League in 2015-16.
And, with that in thoughts, listed below are a number of the different very unlikely title wins ever witnessed in European top-flight soccer.
After ending in a modest 14th place in 2013-14, their first season again within the Premier League, the Foxes went from 5,000-1 rank outsiders to champions of England. Claudio Ranieii’s irrepressible facet, fueled by the likes of Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and N’Golo Kanté, noticed off the entire standard contenders to win the Premier League title by a 10-point margin — the identical hole that they then managed to keep away from relegation to the Championship the next yr.
Regardless of the Italian league being graced by the likes of Diego Maradona and Michel Platini, it was the unfancied Hellas Verona who performed their technique to the Scudetto. The Gialloblu misplaced two video games all season and as Platini’s Juventus, Maradona’s Napoli, AC Milan and Internazionale all stuttered. It stays the membership’s first and, as issues stand, solely Serie A triumph.
Shortly earlier than Paris Saint-Germain embarked upon their ongoing period of dominance over the Ligue 1 trophy, it was Montpellier who managed to make sure the Parisians’ grand, Qatari-backed plan obtained off to a false begin by pipping them to the 2011-12 title. With battering-ram striker Olivier Giroud offering the vast majority of the targets, Montpellier maintained their impetus all season to complete three factors above Zlatan Ibrahimovic & Co. within the last standings. To this point, it was La Paillade’s first and final main top-flight honor, and final season they have been relegated to Ligue 2.
Following a rebrand and overhaul of the membership in 2014, Istanbul Basaksehir shone brilliant and transient within the Turkish Süper Lig, ending runners-up in 2016-17 and 2018-19 earlier than occurring to win the title in 2019-20 — turning into solely the second membership exterior of Turkey’s so-called “Massive 4” (Galatasaray, Fenerbahce, Besiktas and Trabzonspor) to win the league because it was shaped in 1959.
Regardless of successful the German Cup that very same season, Kaiserslautern have been relegated from the Bundesliga in 1995-96. Die Roten Teufel have been in a position to bounce again on the first alternative, solely to then additional harness their upward momentum in reasonably spectacular vogue. Otto Rehhagel’s facet kicked issues off with a shock 1-0 win over defending champions Bayern Munich, earlier than narrowly beating them to the title with one sport of the season remaining — the one time on report {that a} newly promoted crew has gained the German Bundesliga. Rehhagel then sealed one other unlikely title by main Greece to glory at Euro 2004.
What is taken into account the best modern-day Bundesliga upset got here in 2023-24 when Bayer Leverkusen got here up on the rails to deliver an exhilarating finish to Bayern Munich’s imperious monopoly over the title. Bayern had beforehand gained 11 titles on the bounce earlier than Xabi Alonso’s slick Leverkusen outfit ended that run and completely consigned their undesirable “Neverkusen” tag to historical past. Leverkusen have been second from backside within the Bundesliga with simply 5 factors from eight video games when Alonso took over in October of 2022; the next season he cause them to a league and cup double with out shedding a home sport all season.