World soccer: European leagues enter second leg

European soccer is back after the winter break with the interest and excitement growing throughout the continent as the teams head into the second and final stage of their respective leagues.

With the first half of the season already done and with the title races so close in certain countries, it will certainly be interesting to see if the challengers will have what it takes to win their respective trophies come late May.

In European soccer, all top-level national leagues are composed of a certain number of teams, all of whom will play each other twice at some point in the season.

The games are divided into two rounds, the first round, taking place in the fall and early winter, and the second round in the late winter and early spring.

At the end of the first round, each team will have had a chance to play each other at least once, and everyone knows more or less who the real title contenders are.

In the second round, however, the drama intensifies, as a single slip-up could cost a team the title. History has shown that the second round of the season is what makes or, in some cases, breaks teams.

Since in Europe the quality of each league increases every year, the drama and the intensity of the second round also increases accordingly, with many title races coming down to the final games in order to determine the champion.

This year, excitement and suspense have not been absent from the European leagues. In many countries, the race is heating up and the team that is ahead has not been there for a long time.

This season, the English Premier League has had one of the most interesting races, with Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal leading the table with a very small difference between them. These three teams have all been at the top at some point in the season and it will be very interesting to see which team will eventually finish out the season ahead.

Germany's Bundesliga also has not let any excitement go to waste as it continues a great tradition of a thrilling second round. Last year, the league leaders changed every match day with the title eventually going for the first time to Wolfsburd in a thrilling season. This year does not seem to be any different with FC Bayern Munich, Bayern Leverkuzen and FC Shalke all at the top of their respective tables with no more than a point separating them.

The same applies this year in Portugal with Benfica andFC Braga heading up the title race with the same number of points.

There are always some leagues, however, where the leader is fairly well entrenched at the front of the pack. This can be said about the French Ligue 1 and, more specifically, FC Girondins de Bordeaux. With the second round underway, the team finds itself in a very comfortable pole position with minimal odds for an upset.

The same can be said to some extent in Italy's Serie A where Inter Milan are comfortably in the lead.

There are some leagues, however, where, even though there is a team with a comfortable lead, the team behind them is ready for an upset. This can be said about Spain's La Liga and Super League Greece. In Spain, Real Madrid is keeping its hopes up for arch rivals FC Barcelona to slip up in what could prove to be a very interesting homestretch. In Greece, Olympiakos reduced the difference to 5 points from current leaders Panathinaikos, something which could prove to breath new life into the league.

Overall, the second round of the European Leagues should prove to be interesting and very exciting.