What more could you ask for? Could it be that every dark horse must be in line with Greek mythology, and it will be dark to the end? The miracle of Leicester City may only happen once in a hundred years, so don't be demanding. Let's put it this way, the foundation of the weak team, entering the Champions League or even the Europa League, can already be regarded as a dark horse. From this level, there are indeed many dark horses in European football this season.
Of course, you can't blame the fans for being demanding, after all, there are many dark horses this season, and they are very high, and the beginning of the season even gives people a sense of déjà vu to pay tribute to Leicester City. If this kind of extreme situation does happen this season, it will be a carnival for the whole of European football. However, at present, the dark horses are a bit high and low. In fact, if it wasn't for the previous high opening, they are already very satisfied with this result, but because the previous ranking was too high, it is a little disappointing now. The appetite of the fans has been hung up, but then it is not satisfied, and of course there will be a sense of loss.
Moreover, up to now, the dark horses of the five major leagues have shown the same situation - the second place in the league, which has become a hurdle that they can't overcome. In other words, the third place in the league is the ceiling of this season's dark horse.
The most obvious is Girona in La Liga.
Girona's high pitch at the beginning of the season is something I believe everyone has experienced. At that time, Girona even had a unique posture and topped the La Liga table, and if it continues like this, they definitely have a chance to win the championship and create the ultimate myth.
But later, Girona's dark horse aura faded little by little, especially when they were crushed by Real Madrid 7:0 in the two legs, revealing that they were indeed a little overrated. It was just a matter of being overtaken by Real Madrid, but now Girona has even been robbed of the second place by Barcelona. And looking at the current trend, the third place in La Liga will most likely be Girona's final ranking.
Of course, it's great for a mid-table team like Girona to finish third and secure a Champions League spot. But as mentioned earlier, Girona were too aggressive at the start of the season to give the misleading impression that they could win the title, but now, second place in the league has become a hurdle for them, and I have to say, there is a bit of a regret in it.
Then there's Stuttgart in the Bundesliga.
Obviously, Bayer Leverkusen, which has always been among the strong teams in the Bundesliga, cannot be regarded as a dark horse. Although Stuttgart has won the Bundesliga several times, in recent years, they have been an out-and-out Bundesliga weaker team and have been relegated to the Bundesliga. So when Stuttgart suddenly broke into the top four this season, it really scared people. In particular, the little-known Jirasi, who suddenly topped the scorer list, also stunned everyone.
However, no matter how hard Stuttgart tried, they always maintained a few positions with Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich. If Girona dropped from first place to third place, it was a bit of a loss, then Stuttgart's mentality has not experienced this gap, because they have not been ahead of Bayern and Pharma in the whole process, and they are honestly sitting in third place, and they are not afraid of RB Leipzig and Dortmund to overtake.
But that's the ceiling for Stuttgart, second place is a bit far away for them, and it's good to finish third. Although Stuttgart has won a lot this season, it has also lost a lot of games, which shows that this team is still not stable enough, and it is already a gift to win third.
Finally, look at the most classic example, Brest in Ligue 1.
This team is mediocre in terms of fame and strength, and has no presence in Ligue 1. And at the beginning of the season, the first dark horse in Ligue 1 was Nice, who beat Paris away. At that time, Nice was biting the big Paris, firmly occupying the second position. But in the second half of the race, Nice gradually fell behind, while Brest suddenly came to second place.
But now, Brest seem to be a little overwhelmed, especially with a 2-0 defeat at home to direct rivals Monaco, leaving them to accept the reality of being in third place. It is true that there is not much difference between second and third in Ligue 1, but for a weak team like Brest, why should they take third if they can win second?
Of course, the season is not over yet, and the above three teams theoretically have the possibility of hitting the second place, but there is little hope. Again, the Leicester City miracle is just an extreme case of a dark horse and cannot be used as the norm. Therefore, it is not necessary to win the championship to be called a dark horse. The above three teams, although it is difficult to rush to the second, but the third is basically worry-free, and it is already remarkable to be able to do this at a time when the monopoly situation of the giants is becoming more and more intense.