2004: The Year Football Went Weird
No matter how the next six and a half months play out, 2020 is destined to go down as an extremely weird year for football - and humanity in general to be fair.
Cancelled leagues, a rearranged European Championships and games behind closed doors, it's all been a bit dystopian hasn't it?
At least this weirdness is easily explained with COVID-19 being the source of all the mayhem. But what about when weird things happen, seemingly out of nowhere?
This appeared to be the case in 2004 when a string of increasingly shocking events transpired in what was one of the most bizzare 365 days in footballing history. Don't believe us? Well then, let's take a trip down memory lane.
Werder Bremen Win the Double
Though they are currently fighting a losing battle against relegation, at the end of the 2003/2004 season Werder Bremen won an unlikely Bundesliga title. Bremen's side was unspectacular on paper and lacked the star power of heavy favourites Bayern Munich who had dominated the league for a decade along with Borussia Dortmund.
And yet, spurred on by the goalscoring heroics of Aílton - who would never go close to replicating the remarkable 28 goals he managed that season - Die Werderaner clinched the title by six points.
This shock victory was clearly not enough and they went on to lift the DFB Pokal soon after. Their run to the final was weird - there's a surprise, eh? They managed to avoid any challenging games, eventually defeating second tier Alemannia Aachen - who had knocked out Bayern and Borussia Monchengladbach in previous rounds - to secure the trophy.
Their two triumphs were unexpected and the beautiful weirdness of 2004 was only just getting started.
Valencia Also Win the Double
Okay, maybe this double wasn't as unexpected seeing as it was Valencia's second title in three seasons. Still, the prior campaign, Los Ches has finished fifth and this was also during the time of Real Madrid's Galacticos. Rafa Benitez's side really had no right to win La Liga and the UEFA Cup in 2004.
However, perhaps fuelled on the fumes of 2004's weirdness Valencia did just that, eventually finishing a full five points ahead of a Barcelona side in the process of a rebuild from Frank Rijkaard. Some of Benitez's key performers were bleached hair stopper Santiago Canizares, flying winger Vicente and enigmatic number ten Pablo Aimar.
Chief goal getter Mista also had a superb season - and it was he and Vicente who scored as Valencia defeated a Marseille team containing Didier Drogba in the UEFA Cup final. It was one of the few times the Ivorian failed to turn up in a big game.
Invincible Arsenal
There are a couple of weird things about Arsenal's Invincibles team. On the most basic level, a Premier League team going a full campaign without losing is rather ridiculous.
Perhaps even stranger though, is the fact that they did not enjoy even more success. Arsene Wenger's squad was the best in Europe in 2004 and their defeat to a largely unremarkable Chelsea side in the quarter finals of the Champions League badly dented their legacy.
The Gunners suffered a similarly strange defeat to Steve McClaren's Middlesbrough in the semi finals of the League Cup. Two weird, out of character defeats for such a fantastic team. Well, that's 2004 for you we suppose.
Porto Win the Champions League
A final between Monaco and Porto would have been unthinkable when the Champions League kicked off in the summer of 2003. Both sides were perennial underdogs throughout the competition, hailing from unfancied leagues but coached by two burgeoning managers in Didier Deschamps and José Mourinho.
No matter which of the final four had progressed into the final, the game was bound to stick out like a sore thumb in footballing history. The defeated semi finalists were Chelsea and Deportivo La Coruna - two sides with next to no European pedigree. It was another example of 2004 being the year of the underdog.
The final itself was a one way traffic with Mourinho's Porto taking full advantage of Monaco losing their creative talisman Ludovic Giuly early on to injury and strolling to a 3-0 win.
FC Porto - Champions League winners.
Still sounds weird all these years later.
Greece Win the Euros
After Porto's triumph on the club stage, Euro 2004 presented the perfect opportunity for Portugal to cement their place as Europe's dominant nation. The tournament was on home soil and World Cup winning Brazilian big Phil Scolari was in charge. Surely nothing good go wrong?
Incredibly though, Portugal's tournament was bookended by two defeats to Greece in one of the greatest underdog stories in footballing history. Set up in a ridiculously defensive 4-3-3 which resembled a 4-5-1 most of the time, the Greeks shithoused their way to the final before squeezing out a narrow 1-0 win over the hosts in the final.
It was really, really weird and thus, very on brand for 2004 as a whole.
Thierry Henry's Ballon d'Or Injustice
France Football closed off a bizarre year by leaving Thierry Henry off their top three for the Ballon d'Or.
Henry scored 30 Premier League for the Invincibles - one of the greatest domestic seasons of all time - and although international success with France was not forthcoming, the players who beat him to the podium quite frankly, did not deserve to.
The gong was won by Andriy Shevchenko who scored less goals to help Milan romp to the Serie A title, while second place was taken by Deco. His inclusion as Porto's best player in their shock Champions League win was understandable - but Ronaldinho's inclusion in third is less forgivable.
The attacking midfielder missed the Brazil's Copa America triumph with injury and also endured a trophyless season at club level. How he managed to beat Henry to the podium is weird; very weird indeed.