A compact division 5 with a few exceptions.

Spartak hold the narrowest of leads over Olympiacos, though long term their additional depth should see them through. Sao Paulo in a state of flux but with just the midfield to sort out to balance up the team.  Sunderland in a similar boat but with a defence to service.

Then there is a gap to Boca, Athletic club and Montpellier who are all closely matched, although Boca get the award for best attack in the league.  As the bar for entry to D4 is sat at around 217.5 this should mean half the league have a chance of promotion directly or via the play off spot.

With only the sack race to fear, which sits around 215.5 , Malaga, AZ and St Ettiene will fancy their chances to stay above the slowly improving Independiente. Overall a slightly stronger division than last season largely due to Independiente’s improvement.  Although if you ignore them the score is exactly the same.