2020 Roundtable: What was the footballing moment of the year?

A personal highlight, but in 2020 you had to take your victories where you could. At times after March, and Mikel Arteta’s positive Covid test which set in motion a rapid escalation that saw football shut down across the country, you feared that football might not be able to return at all. Talk of World Cup-style tournaments in the Midlands and extensive bubble regulations all felt a little outlandish, and incompatible with the reality facing everyone. But football returned - imperfect, strange and lacking a little something, but still football – and Arsenal won the FA Cup again. Some things never change.

Sevilla winning the Europa League. And more specifically Julen Lopetegui winning the Europa League. Lopetegui was treated fairly horrendously by Real Madrid and while his departure as Spain coach was partially a situation of his own making, his redemption at Sevilla was an uplifting moment in what was a fairly dank year.

The expression on Vivianne Miedema's face when she broke the record to become the FA Women's Super League all-time leading goalscorer, averaging over a goal a game for Arsenal. She's not one for celebrations usually, explaining that she sees hitting the back of the net as merely her job and no cause for exuberance, but even she cracked a smile at that one.

It might not have happened in quite the spectacular way the fans would have hoped, but Liverpool’s title triumph in June to end the club’s 30-year wait has to be the moment of the season. The players’ party after Chelsea beat Manchester City was the culmination of one of the most special seasons in the history of English football.

Barcelona ‘hit rock bottom’ on August 15, 2020. The Catalan giants suffered an 8-2 defeat so bad it was worse than humiliating against Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter finals. But rather than highlighting this abject embarrassment to heap misery on poor Barca, it simply serves as a reminder of Bayern’s brilliance. The Bavarian side plundered five goals inside 31 minutes and, remarkably, still never even looked to be in top gear. It was a masterclass and a quite incredible destruction of a once great team.

Spanish Super Cup, January 12. The scoreboard clock flickers into the 115th minute as Real Madrid mount another attack, white shirts pouring forward in search of a late winner. Their ambition is misguided. The ball is hoofed away, a brief midfield squabble and, suddenly, Alvaro Morata is bearing down on the other goal. No one can stop him. The cup is heading to Atletico. He just needs to pick him spot an… BAM. Morata is on the floor. A flash of red. A huge melee. Federico Valverde is walking off the pitch. Just a few minutes later, Sergio Ramos is hoisting the trophy aloft in Saudi Arabia – Real Madrid are champions. Was Valverde’s act dangerous? Yes. Was it necessary? Even more so.

Barcelona getting decimated 8-2 by Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals was a long time in the making. Barcelona's internal problems were beyond boiling point and that game created an explosion. Bayern showed why they are undeniably the best team in Europe by a long way. The Bundesliga champions understand the physical and tactical demands of football in 2020 and have implemented a system which will now be used as a template ahead of the tiki-taka style that Barca showed the world a long time ago. That one match at the Estadio da Luz back in August will be a reference point for coaches heading into this decade.

Despite the excitement about football’s return in the summer, there wasn’t too much to get excited about when the Premier League did resume. Most games seemed more like friendly matches than the entertaining affairs we were used to pre-lockdown, which is why Chelsea’s win over Manchester City at Stamford Bridge stands out. Not really because the result sealed Liverpool’s first Premier League title, but because of the quality of the match and the drama as City clung on desperately, with Kevin De Bruyne scoring a fine free-kick, Kyle Walker clearing on the line and a rare instance of ‘that’s what VAR is for’ as Fernandinho was penalised for handball on the line. It wasn’t as crazy as some of the 2020/21 games we have seen so far, but it was one of the best of the summer.