The 2024/25 season has been a season of few surprises across Europe’s top five leagues. 

No teams have sprung title surprises across the Serie A, La Liga, Premier League, Ligue 1, and Bundesliga, similar to Bayer Leverkusen’s challenge for the German top flight last season.

As it stands, the champion of each of the top five leagues will be a team that has won the title at least once in the last five years. 

In La Liga, Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid are involved in a tight title race, which can be determined by these ten games.

Inter Milan, Napoli and Atalanta are also involved in a tight Serie A title race, while the fight between Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen could also go down to the last week of the season. Elsewhere, Liverpool and PSG look like they already have the title wrapped up two months before the end of the season. 

However, while there have been few surprises at the upper end of the table across Europe’s top leagues, there have been more shocks at the lower end of the tables. The surprises have been more from the quality or lack of the struggling teams.

Some clubs have really disappointed this season, making fans who buy their match tickets regret their actions. 

So, which team have disappointed those who buy European football tickets this season the most?

This article looks at the worst teams in Europe’s top five leagues.

To paint a clear picture, we have grouped them into two categories. 

The first category grades teams based on their statistical output, naming the seven teams with the fewest points across Europe’s top five leagues this season. Category two names teams with performances and results well below their squad value and expectations. 

Southampton-Premier League

Southampton are statistically the worst team in Europe’s top five leagues this season. 

The Saints have won just two games this season–the joint-lowest among clubs in Europe’s top five leagues. As a result, they have just nine points after 29 games—also the fewest points tally for any team in the top five leagues.  

Not only are they the team with the lowest points total after the close of March, but they have also conceded the most league goals (70) and have the worst goal difference among the 96 teams competing in the top five leagues. 

Indeed, it has been a shocking season for Southampton, who could break Derby’s record of the lowest point tally in a single Premier League season.

Monza-Serie A 

Serie A bottom feeders Monza are statistically the second poorest team in Europe’s top five leagues so far. 

While they are a healthy six points better than Southampton, with an xG of 23.3, they are the club with the fewest expected goals in Europe’s top five leagues. This means that Alessandro Nesta’s side creates precious few goal-scoring chances in a game. 

Even Southampton has a healthier expected goal tally. However, what they lack in attack, they appear to make up for in defence. Monza has conceded 52 league goals this season, but their xGA (the quality of shots they allow against them) is lower than for teams like Bournemouth and AC Milan. 

As it stands, Monza looks set to be relegated back to Serie B for the first time since they gained promotion in 2022. 

Real Valladolid-La Liga

Real Valladolid sits in 94th out of 96th position in Europe’s top five leagues table.

The La Liga basement boys have collected 16 points from 29 league games so far. They are also the lowest-scoring side among Europe’s top five leagues, scoring just 21 goals. 

Valladolid has also conceded 65 goals, the third most of the clubs in consideration. This means they have the second-worst goal difference among Europe’s top five league clubs. 

Like Southampton, Real Valladolid are certainly doomed unless they can muster a miraculous run of form before the season ends. However, the fact that they have won none of their last ten league games (D1) suggests that such a miraculous occurrence is unlikely. 

Montpellier–Ligue 1 

Ligue 1 bottom feeders, Montpellier are statistically the fourth-worst team in Europe this season. 

La Paillade are in their consecutive 16th season in the top flight, one of which saw them win the Ligue 1 title. But things look bleak for them this season, with their 15 points from 18 league games placing them at the bottom of the table, and eleven points off safety with ten games still to play.

The height of their embarrassment this season was a 4-0 loss to non-league side Le Puy-en-Valley in the Coupe de France in December. 

Hopes could have been high over a miraculous return to form. However, things have remained rotten for Jean-Louis Gasset’s side, who have lost seven in a row since winning back-to-back league games.

Leicester City–Premier League 

Leicester City is the second Premier League side to feature in the poorest team in Europe this season. 

The Foxes have had two managers this season, but the results have not improved. In fact, results and performance have worsened for them, suggesting that they should never have sacked their manager. 

They have lost 20 league games this season, six of which have come in the last two months. Any hopes of them coming out of the woods are dashed by the fact that they failed to score in those six league games. 

Less than ten months after celebrating securing promotion to the top flight, Leciester fans look like they will make a swift return to the Championship next season. 

Ipswich Town–Premier League

Leicester City’s fellow newbies make up the top six of the poorest teams in Europe this season. Like the Foxes, the Tractor Boys have just 17 points on the board. 

As things stand, they are nine points behind safety, and there is little hope of survival given their current form. Ipswich Town is winless in their last ten league games (D2, L8). The only good thing in their season is the form of top-scorer Liam Delap, who is among the most sought-after Premier League players this summer.

Holstein Kiel–Bundesliga  

Bundesliga’s basement boys, Holstein Kiel, are Europe's seventh poorest side this season. 

Marcel Rapp’s side have found life in the Bundesliga challenging after gaining promotion to the top flight at the end of last season. They look like they will make a quick return to the lower division, but the fact that they are just five points behind safety gives hope that things could change in the last nine games of the season.

Another good omen for them is that Holstein Kiel are better than most teams at scoring goals. They have 38 league goals this season, which is more than all the bottom 16 clubs in Europe’s top five leagues has scored so far. 

Worst-performing sides in Europe by squad value

Manchester United, Tottenham,and Wolves make up our list of top ten worst teams in Europe this season. 

According to data from the CIES Football Observatory, the trio were among the 20 costliest squads at the beginning of the season. 

After a summer splurge that saw them sign as many as five new first-team players, Man United were ranked the second-most expensive squad in the world behind only Chelsea. Their sqaud was valued at over €1 billion at the beginning of the season. 

They were expected to mount a serious push for the top four. However, they find themself in worse condition than they were last season.  

Tottenham were ranked fifth in the list of costliest squads with a squad value of €787m, after a summer where they spent on top talent. But Ange Postecoglou’s side are in very bad shape domestically, and there are genuine fears the Australian will be the latest Spurs manager to fail. They, alongside Manchester United, are locked in a comical mid-table battle that is serving as a real embarrassment to their ticket holders.  

Wolverhampton Wanderers are another side with a highly valued squad that is struggling this season. While they were not really expected to be flying on all cylinders, they were at least expected to mount a serious push in the top half. However, they find themselves in 17th place in the league and are saved only by the mediocrity of the bottom three sides.  

Honourable mentions 

Borussia Dortmund, AC Milan, and Stuttgart have all performed below expectations this season. After their recent successes, all three clubs were expected to be in the title mix in their respective leagues. 

But they all find themselves outside the top six, and their chances of qualifying for Europe next season now rests on a late upturn of form in the last two months of the season.