Top Football Moments in 2021

The year 2021 has came to an end, a year that had so many memorable football moments in it. The 2019-20 football season was heavily influenced by the Covid-19 pandemic as it forced football – along with other sports- to shut off for a few months. That made the 2020-21 season one of the special seasons in football history. After dealing with such a disastrous pandemic for more than a year, football was one of the few things that could cheer up people during their daily life. And let’s be honest, 2021 had everything that you could ask for as a football fan!

Now that the calendar year is over, we decided to make a list of top football moments in 2021. In creating this list, we tried to focus on crazy moments in football 2021 that not everybody saw it coming. For instance, Cristiano Ronaldo beating the record of all-time men’s international goal scorer was a huge achievement and there is no doubt about that, but we all knew that it is going to happen sooner or later. Atletico Madrid winning its 11th La Liga title, Chelsea conquering Europe with

, and Man. City dominating the Premier League are amongst some honorable moments in 2021 that we couldn’t fit in on our list.

What Were the Top 10 Football Moments of 2021?

So, all things considered, this is our list of

top 10 Football moments of 2021

. We are going to review every one of these top football moments in 2021 that are sorted by the time of their occurrence later on in this article:

• Inter Winning the Serie A

• Jose Mourinho Joining AS Roma

• Lewandowski Setting New Bundesliga Scoring Record

• LOSC Lille Winning the Ligue 1

• Christian Eriksen Injury

• Argentina Winning the Copa America

• Italy Winning the EURO

• Messi Leaving Barcelona

• Ronaldo Returning to Manchester United

• The Super League Announcement  

Inter Winning the Serie A (May 1)

May is an important month in football calendar as European leagues concludes during this month and champions get crowned. Therefore, the majority of crazy moments in football 2021 has happened in May and Inter winning its 19th scudetto is the first one. Since the 2011-12 season in Italian Serie A, Juventus started to dominate the league for nine straight years. During this time they have won nine consecutive Serie A titles in addition to a few Copa Italia and Italian Super Cups. They also have reached two UCL finals but couldn't get their hand on the trophy on either occasion.

 Milan, Roma, and

came close to put a halt to Juve’ domination but they didn’t manage to finish the job at the end. In 2020-21 Antonio Conte started his second season at Inter after finishing the league as the runners-up in his first season. To add a little bit of drama into the put, Conte was the same man who started the Juve’ dominance by winning three back-to-back Serie A titles from 2011 to 2014 and now he was ready to end what he has started. Although they got eliminated in UCL group stage by sitting at 4th place, Inter had a robust form on their Serie A campaign.

Milan started off the season on better terms and was sitting at the top of the table for 21 matchdays. But as the time passed, their form has dropped and with Juve struggling to make it to the top four position, Inter was the favorites to win the league. Eventually, in May 1st 2021, Inter enjoyed a 2-0 win away at

which meant that they are the new Italy champions with four games to spare. That championship may be the start of a new era in Italian football and surely will be remembered as one of the top football moments in 2021. 

Jose Mourinho Joining AS Roma (May 4)

As the Special One, everything that is related to Jose Mourinho is some kind of a big news in football world. But he joining AS Roma on a three-year contract was surely one of the

crazy moments in football 2021

as no one, absolutely no one has seen it coming until the official twitter account of AS Roma announced it in May 4th. Roma was bought by the American businessman Dan Friedkin in 2020 and it seems that the new ownership is have some big plans for the Italian club’s future. Paulo Fonseca was Roma’s coach since the start of the 2019-20 season. After finishing fifth on his debut season, he aimed for a UCL qualification on his second year at the club which he did not fulfilled.

With Fonesca’s contract nearing its ends, Roma was looking for a new coach to start their project under the Friedkin’s management. All the reports from Italian media suggested that

is the closest man to Roma’s bench for the upcoming seasons and there are only some paper works to do to make it official. Then, right out of the blue the club announced that they have reached an agreement with Jose Mourinho over a three-year contract. Friedkin wanted to show their ambition with hiring one of the most successful coaches in football history. And given to his last unsuccessful spells at Tottenham and Man. United, Jose Mourinho also wanted to prove that he is still one of the greatest coaches in the game.

Even tough Inter has just won the league, the news of Mourinho coming back to Italian football as the Roma manager took the media by storm and everyone was talking about whether it was a right move by the club and Jose or not. Nonetheless, if he manages to bring Roma back to the top level, May the 4th will not only be remembered as the Star Wars Day but also, it would be the day that Jose Mourinho began his reign at Roma. 

Lewandowski Setting New Bundesliga Scoring Record (May 22)

Breaking records is an exciting part of any sport and football is no exception. There are many records that seems impossible to beat until someone manages to do that and the Gerd Muller’s record for scoring 40 goals in a Bundesliga season was one of them. The legendary German striker had set that record during the 1971-72 campaign playing in Bayern Munich colors. For nearly five decades, no player managed to even come close to it and as Lewandowski mentioned once - before breaking the record himself, it seemed impossible to top 40 goals in a single Bundesliga season. But in the 2020-21 season the Pole number nine was on fire and as the time passed, people started to talking about him breaking Gerd Muller’s untouchable record.

Until game week 32, Robert Lewandowski had bagged 39 goals and was one goal away from equaling to Muller’s record. He did net another from the spot against Freiburg on matchday 33 and now he had the chance to break the record on the last day of the season against

at home. Bayern had already won the Bundesliga and that match was all about Lewandowski setting a new record in German football history. It didn’t come easy though, Lewa was pushing for a goal until the last minute of the game but Augsburg’ goal keeper was denying him. On the 90th minute, Lewandowski finally find the opportunity to fire his record-breaking strike that sealed the 5-2 win for Bayern Munich and made him the only player who managed to score 41 goals in a single Bundesliga season.

LOSC Lille Winning the Ligue 1 (May 23)

One of the other

top football moments in 2021

that happened in May was Lille winning the Ligue 1 title for the first time since 2011 when they had Eden Hazard in their squad. Before the start of 2019-20 season, Paris Saint-Germain has managed to win seven out of eight championships in French top flight. With Monaco facing a decline over the past couple of years, Ligue 1 was a one-horse race and no team could even challenge PSG for the league title. But the 2020-21 had a different story in it. PSG didn’t have a promising start to the season and that led to Tomas Tuchel losing his job as Mauricio Pochettino succeeded him in the January of 2021.

On the other hand, Lille with Christophe Galtier at charge was having a spectacular season. They had one of the best defensive records across Europe and their attacking line was deadly enough to keep them at the top of the table ahead of PSG. The chase continued until the very last day of the league when Lille just needed one more win to celebrate its fourth ever championship in French first tier. In May 23, Lille beat

with a 2-1 score line to win the Ligue 1 title deservedly and create one of the top 10 Football moments of 2021.

Christian Eriksen Injury (June 12)

Football is not always about joyful and exciting moments. There are also some heartbreaking and horrible incidents that stick in mind forever and ever. One of those moments, happened during the EURO 2020 which was held in the summer of 2021 with a one-year postponement due to the pandemic. It was the opening game of group B between Denmark and Finland at Parken Stadium, Denmark. Everything was normal and the host fans were enjoying their team’s performance which had the upper hand against Finland. But at the minute 43’ of first half, an unusual injury happened that made everyone to worry about something way more important than a football match. 

The Danish midfielder

, who was having a decent game, fell on the ground without anyone touching him. The referee immediately stopped the match and asked for the medical team on the pitch. At the meantime, Denmark players created a human shield around their number 10 to protect his privacy at those tough moments. Fortunately, Christian Eriksen survived from that cardiac arrest and got transported to a nearby hospital. Although it was a horrifying accident, the way it ended and how the both sides fans and players helped in the process - specifically the Denmark' captain Simon Kjær, made that moment one of the top football moments in 2021.  

Argentina Winning the Copa America (July 10)

EURO was not the only continental tournament that was held in the last summer. In South America, 10 nations have participated in the 47th edition of the Copa America. Argentina is one of the most decorated teams in the continent but their last championship in Copa America goes back to 1993. With Lionel Messi nearing his last years of career, this Copa America was one of Argentina’s last chances to win a major trophy with Messi in their squad. Argentina started the group stage alongside Uruguay, Paraguay,

, and Bolivia.

They topped their group  with10 points out of 12 and faced Ecuador in the quarter-finals which they beat by three goals. The match against Colombia was a close one as the penalty shoutouts had to decide the winner. Thanks to Emiliano Martínez’ brilliant performance between the posts, Argentina made it to the final where they had to beat the rivals Brazil. An early goal from Di Maria was enough for Argentina to claim their 15th Copa America title. Lionel Messi lifting his first cup on Argentina national team is surely one of the

most epic moments in football

history

.

Italy Winning the EURO (July 11)

At the start of the EURO 2020, Italy was not considered as one of the top three favorites to win the whole tournament. There were the likes of England, France, Spain, Belgium, and Portugal who had so many big names on their roster. But the odds were changing in favor of Italy as the tournament progressed. They had a perfect start with winning all three of their group matches against Turkey, 

, and Wales without conceding a single goal. On the round of 16, Italy had to beat Austria which they managed to do so on the extra times of the match. A delightful performance against Belgium that led to a 2-1 win meant that Italy is one step closer to the final of the EURO 2020 which was going to take place in Wembley.

On the semi-finals, Italy had a tough challenge versus Luis Enrique’s Spain which was on top of their form. After 120 minutes of thrilling football, Italy won the game with Jorginho scoring the last penalty of the match. England was ready to lift up the cup in their home ground but Roberto Mancini’s team had other ideas. Once again, the game finished 1-1 after 120 minutes and thanks to Donnarumma’s saves, Italy won the final and crowned as the champions of the Europe for the first time since 1968. Italy winning the EURO trophy at Wembley, is one of those 

top football moments in 2021 

that Italians are going to brag about for a long, long time.

Messi Leaving Barcelona (August 5)

There is an end to everything, but nobody could predict the Lionel Messi’s legendary career at Barcelona comes to an end in the way it did. During the summer transfer window of 2020, there were some talks about Messi leaving Barca for Man. City or Paris Saint-Germain but at the end, he stayed at the club for another year and helped Barcelona to win a Copa del Rey title. It was his last year of contract which meant that if Barcelona is going to keep him at the club, they have to reach an agreement on a renewal contract with the Argentinian attacker.

After months of negotiations, rumors had it that Messi is going to sign a new contract with his beloved Barca and stay at the club for the coming years. But at the fifth day of August, the bombshell has dropped: Barcelona announced that due to the financial crisis at the club and La Liga’s regulations, it is not possible for them to sign a new contract with Lionel Messi. Now Messi had to leave the club as a free agent and PSG was his next destination. The greatest player in Barca’ history

in a press conference is surely disappointing and of course, one of the top football moments in 2021.

Ronaldo Returning to Manchester United (August 27)

The summer transfer window also provided us with another crazy moments in football 2021. After helping Juventus to cling a top four finish in Serie A and qualify for the UCL football, Andrea Pirlo was dismissed and Massimiliano Allegri got appointed as new Juventus head coach to start his second spell at the club. But even that wasn’t the biggest change in Juventus’ squad during the last summer. On the late August of 2021, it came to light that Cristiano Ronaldo is ready to leave the Italian football to make his return to Premier League, where he made a name for himself as an 18 years old starlet in

Manchester United.

Things got more interesting as media started to suggest that it is Manchester City that are trying to land CR7 in England. Just when many Man. United fans were feeling betrayed by Ronaldo choosing to join their rivals, it turned out that there is still another twist in the tail. In the August 27 Manchester United revealed that they have bought Cristiano Ronaldo from Juventus and now the Portuguese superstar has made his return to Old Trafford since he left the club for Real Madrid in 2009. Watching Ronaldo wearing United’s number 7 shirt once again after all these years, was one of the top football moments in 2021 without any doubt. 

The Super League Announcement (October 15)

The epic moments in football are not always happening on the pitch or during the transfer windows. Sometimes it is all about what is happening behind the closed doors of club’s chairmen and people have no clue of it until the news breaks out. Real Madrid president, Florentino Pérez, was the main man in one of the most controversial news during the last year which turned out to be one of the

top football moments in 2021

as well. The talks about creating a European Super League that guarantees more money compared to UEFA Champions League has been around for a few years but nobody expected to see it actually happening.

In October 15th, it was announced that the Super League is ready to shape up with 12 founding members. Those members included the English top six alongside Inter, Juventus, Milan, Real Madrid, Barcelona, and

. But football fans started to protest against the Super League idea as the sporting merit was lost in it. those protest got backed by football players, managers, confederations, and even politicians which led to clubs withdraw from Super League. Now it may look like the Super League idea has failed, but it is too soon to assume that it is done and dusted for good; since there are still reports that suggests Super League is going to be reintroduced but this time with a different format which could address the dissatisfactions of the initial plan.

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