Mourinho’s quest for title in Turkey among tight races across European soccer leagues
GENEVA (AP) — José Mourinho’s quest to be a champion again.
Europe’s top goal-scorer on a title hunt before a big move.
A young coach reviving a European giant.
Look outside the top five leagues in Europe and the season run-in promises the kind of title race drama the English Premier League lacks as Liverpool dominates.
Galatasaray is still just ahead of Mourinho’s Fenerbahce in Turkey.
Sporting Lisbon is being fired by Viktor Gyökeres goals to hold off Benfica in Portugal.
Ajax is back on top in the Netherlands in 35-year-old coach Francesco Farioli’s first season.
Young Boys is close to going last-to-first to retain the Swiss title, and unbeaten Red Star Belgrade is making a procession of the Serbian league.
Here’s a look at how the business end of the soccer season is playing out across Europe:
Turkey
Mourinho was hired by Fenerbahce last June to end the Istanbul club’s wait for a first league title since 2014, and a first Champions League place for 17 seasons.
It’s now a decade since he last lifted a league trophy — the 2015 Premier League with Chelsea, his third in England after two in Portugal with Porto, two in Italy with Inter Milan and one in Spain with Real Madrid.
Turkey would be the fifth country Mourinho conquers and he has been typically outspoken, making provocative news in his new home as city rival Galatasaray has led the league almost all season. Mourinho reacted badly on Wednesday to being ousted from the Turkish Cup in another Istanbul derby, grabbing the nose of Gala coach Okan Buruk after the game.
In the league, Fenerbahce sits six points behind defending champion Gala, which has played a game more. The gap closed last weekend when Gala’s unbeaten record ended after a 2-1 derby loss at Besiktas. Fenerbahce has lost just twice, also at Besiktas and at home to Gala in September.
Simply extending a four-month unbeaten run through the last nine rounds might not be enough for Mourinho, who has strikers Youssef En-Nesyri and Edin Džeko combining for more than a goal per game.
The season ends on June 1, one day after the Champions League final in Munich. Only the title winner goes direct into the next Champions League where Fenerbahce last played in 2009.
Portugal
In a season of three coaches — one left, one fired, one hired in December — Viktor Gyökeres has been the bedrock of Sporting’s title defense.
The Sweden striker’s tally of 30 league goals is the most in Europe, three more than Mohamed Salah at Liverpool. Gyökeres also got six in the Champions League, including three against Manchester City.
That 4-1 rout of Man City in November was a farewell home game for coach Ruben Amorim, who formally joined Manchester United days later.
Through the turmoil, Sporting has stayed on top and unbeaten since a 1-0 win over Benfica on Dec. 29, which was a first game under current coach Rui Borges. That result is keeping Sporting ahead on head-to-head record as it is tied on points after Benfica beat Farense 3-2 on Wednesday.
With seven rounds left, Benfica hosting Sporting on May 10 could be decisive. An extra incentive is only the title winner goes directly into the next Champions League because the Netherlands passed Portugal as the nation ranked sixth by UEFA.
Netherlands
Ajax’s 2023-24 season was chaotic. Turnover in the dugout and front office, failure to contend for any trophy, beatings from its biggest rivals, and a fifth-place finish in the league 35 points behind champion PSV Eindhoven.
Enter Italian coach Farioli, a protégé of Roberto De Zerbi, who joined after one season at Nice. As the Ajax fans sing: “Don’t worry, about a thing.”
A 2-0 win at second-placed PSV last weekend lifted Farioli’s team nine points clear with seven rounds left.
At age 19, Jorrel Hato looks the next big talent from the storied Ajax academy in a defense that has given up just 20 league goals after conceding 61 last season.
Best of the rest
While Paris Saint-Germain is heading for an unbeaten Ligue 1 title, Red Star Belgrade could be the most dominant team.
The 1991 European Cup winner has won 27 games and drawn two, scoring more than 100 with a goal difference of +82. Red Star completes the 30-game regular season on Sunday at third-placed OFK Belgrade, before an eight-team championship round.
Swiss champion Young Boys was last in the 12-team league in mid-October, and now is in the heart of a six-team title race after winning on Tuesday at leader Servette. It is not a vintage season and no team is close to averaging two points per game.
In Belgium, Genk topped the regular season standings by nine points and leads the championship playoff group by four from Club Brugge. They meet twice more, starting on April 13.
There are three-way title races in Poland and Croatia.
In Poland’s Ekstraklasa, the first-time champions in the past two seasons, Rakow Czestochowa and Jagiellonia, lead the way from Lech Poznan.
In Croatia, Hajduk Split, coached by Gennaro Gattuso and with Ivan Rakitić anchoring midfield, leads Rijeka by one point. Dinamo Zagreb is third despite the financial advantage of playing in the Champions League.
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