With the calendar ticking over to 2024, we are now officially in "second half of the season" territory. You know what that means: the stretch. The long turn towards home. The business end. While most of Europe's biggest leagues tend to have separated the wheat from the chaff by the midway point, with elite teams accruing points cushions at the top and just a handful of surprising results between now and the end of May before the usual title winners are crowned, this season feels different.
The Premier League feels wide open, with no breakaway club and Man City looking as vulnerable as they ever have under manager Pep Guardiola. The Bundesliga is being dominated by one team -- and they're not named Bayern Munich. LaLiga's typical three-team hegemony among Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid has been upset by ... Girona. Oh, and Paris Saint-Germain look far from comfortable in France's Ligue 1, while Inter Milan have been Italy's driving force in Serie A.
- Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga & more (U.S.)
Things could end in expected fashion across all five leagues, but we could also be facing the most exciting title races we've had in years. So let's look across the landscape, surveying the state of things now, how we got here, and how the numbers project each league finishing in the spring.