European leagues: African players face very different stakes as the season reaches its final stretch

Titles within reach

Victor Osimhen was officially crowned Italian champion on Thursday 4 March, but several African internationals are not yet over the line. And the most exciting run-in belongs to Riyad Mahrez. The Algerian star is chasing a treble with Manchester City. In the Premier League title race, with a one-point lead over Arsenal, the Skyblues also have a game in hand that could let them stretch the gap and edge closer to a 9th Premier League title. Mahrez and Manchester City are also in the hunt for another domestic trophy, with an FA Cup final to play against Manchester United. In Europe, they are favourites against Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final, with the aim of winning the competition for the first time in their history.

Senegalese pair Sadio Mané and Bouna Sarr, Cameroonian Eric Maxim Chupo-Moting and Moroccan Noussair Mazroui are also competing for the Bundesliga title, with a one-point lead over Sébastien Haller's Dortmund. The race is just as thrilling in Ligue 1, where Achraf Hakimi dreams of lifting the title, but despite a 5-point lead, the turmoil at PSG suggests that Marseille's Chancel Mbemba and Lens players Seko Fofana, Massadio Haïdara and Abdul Samed can keep believing in a miracle. There is less pressure on Franck Kessie, who could be crowned champion next matchday with Barça in La Liga. Moroccan Oussama Idrissi is also close to winning the Dutch league with Feyenoord.

In the European competitions, Ismael Bennacer's Milan and André Onana's Inter Milan are emerging as outsiders to win the Champions League. Meanwhile, in the Europa League, Youssef En-Nesyri and Yassine Bounou are among the favourites for the title, although Edmond Tapsoba with Leverkusen and Roma's Mady Camara will not go down without a fight. The stakes are the same in the Europa Conference League, where Saïd Benrahma and Nayef Aguerd dream of a European trophy with West Ham, up against Amrabat's Fiorentina and Andy Diouf's FC Basel.

Fighting for survival

At the bottom of the tables in Europe's leagues, some African players are battling to avoid relegation. In England, Gana Guèye (Everton), André Ayew, Emmanuel Denis (Nottingham Forest), Sulemana (Southampton) and Patson Daka (Leicester) are all involved in the fight to stay up. In France, Youcef Belaïli (Ajaccio), Moses Simon (Nantes) and Habib Diallo (Strasbourg) are trying to survive the run-in. In Italy, Boulaye Dia is not yet safe with Salernitana, and neither are Afena-Gyan (Cremonese), Nzola (Spezia) and Banda (Lecce). In La Liga, Djéné (Getafe), Moriba (Valencia), Amallah (Valladolid) and Bongonda (Cadiz) are not yet safe.

❌Season over for Amallah, who has suffered a complete tear of the shoulder ligaments.

🗞@partidazocope pic.twitter.com/JnDEuzaUmd

— LigActu 🇪🇸 (@LigActu) April 29, 2023

 

Minds already on next season

Meanwhile, some African players have nothing left to play for this season and are already looking ahead to the next. After Chelsea's poor campaign, Kalidou Koulibaly and Edouard Mendy are already considering a change of scenery and a new challenge. In Germany, Bensebaini is in mid-table with Gladbach, with his mind on Dortmund, whom he will join at the end of the season. With no involvement in the battle for European places, Terem Moffi has nothing left to play for with Nice over the coming weeks. The hope of winning the Dutch league is slim, to say the least, so Ibrahima Sangaré's thoughts may be on the next transfer window, with a hoped-for move to take a step up.