12 teams who came from nowhere to win the title as Spurs mount Prem challenge

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    • They may have been blown slightly off course by Chelsea, but Tottenham Hotspur’s Premier League title challenge is a serious one.

    A chaotic London derby saw Ange Postecoglou’s side fall to a 4-1 home defeat after they saw Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie both get sent off. However, Spurs are only one point away from current leaders Manchester City, who overcame AFC Bournemouth 6-1 in their fixture.

    After an awful season last year, Postecoglou has seemingly brought everyone together and is extracting every ounce of quality from his players. As Spurs’ unlikely title challenge continues, Daily Star Sport considers 12 other shock title triumphs.

    1. Leicester City

      You may have heard that Leicester City won the Premier League in 2016 – not that anybody made a big deal of it. Only joking, the 5000-1 underdogs’ Premier League triumph is arguably the greatest achievement in modern football.

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    2. Napoli

      Thirty-three years of hurt gave way to the most spectacular party ever seen in Naples, when Napoli finally won Serie A in 2023.

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    3. Nottingham Forest

      After just gaining promotion to the old first division, Nottingham Forest went on to win the whole title in their first season back in 1978. They then went on to win back-to-back European Cups.

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    1. Montpellier

      Even Paris Saint-Germain’s middle eastern money could not stop a Montpellier team, spearheaded by Olivier Giroud from winning Ligue 1 in 2012 – it was one of the most magical moments in the often non-competitive French league.

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    2. Lille

      On the subject of Ligue 1 shocks, Lille possessed a team with Eden Hazard, Gervinho and Yohan Cabaye – they all sizzled their way to a Ligue 1 and French cup double in 2011

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    3. Kaiserslautern

      After finishing 12th the following season, a Kaiserslautern team featuring Stefan Kuntz, Bruno Labbadia, Bjarne Goldbaek and Thomas Dooley went on to miraculously win the Bundesliga in 1991

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    1. Deportivo La Coruna

      If anybody needed a reminder that Barcelona and Real Madrid are not the only teams in Spain, then Deportivo La Coruna gave one in the most incredible fashion. They won La Liga in the 1999-2000 season, six years after they were one penalty kick away from winning the league.

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    2. Valencia

      As Ronaldinho pulled the strings for Barcelona and Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo ran the show for Real Madrid, Rafa Benitez’s Valencia side managed to ghost in and take La Liga from right under their noses in the 2001-02 and 2003-04 campaigns- it’s arguably one of the finest achievements in Spanish football history

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    3. Chelsea

      Put your pitchforks down, we know this isn’t an underdog story. However, Antonio Conte did take over an ageing Chelsea side that had finished 10th the previous season and guided them to the 2016-17 Premier League title with a record of 30 wins in 38 league games

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    1. Hellas Verona

      It may be the place where Romeo and Juliet was based, but the most romantic story to take place in the historic city was Hellas Verona’s jaw-dropping Serie A triumph in 1985 – they even managed to pip a Napoli side led by Diego Maradona himself

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    2. KV Mechelen

      Before Chelsea and Manchester City, Belgian side KV Mechelen were the ones benefitting from a sugar daddy. In the 1980s, local entrepreneur John Cordier took over the club and pumped millions into the side. His spending was awarded with a shock triumph in the 1988 European Cup Winners Cup, where they overcame Ajax in the final.

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    3. Aberdeen

      Before Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson was a god in Abderdeen after he won the Scottish Premiership in 1980 – two more titles and a European Cup Winners Cup later, he joined United – as they say, the rest is history

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