Thun pulls off the coup The greatest championship sensations in European club football

FC Thun pulls off a major surprise and secures the Swiss championship title as a promoted team. It is not the first championship sensation in European football.

FC Thun's championship run is only briefly slowed down. It is now clear that the Bernese Oberland club will not let anyone take the butter off their bread - and thus join the list of the greatest championship sensations in European club football.

"Now it's time to celebrate"What the Thun champions say after redemption

When the legendary Brian Clough took over as manager in 1975, nobody could have imagined that Nottingham Forrest would conquer English and European football in the following three years. Immediately after promotion from the second division, Nottingham achieved a coup with the championship title in 1978. The team remained unbeaten in 42 league games over the course of the season - a record that was only broken by Arsenal FC in 2004. In the following two years, Nottingham even triumphed in the European Champions Cup.

Hellas Verona were promoted to Serie A just three years earlier. Completely surprisingly, the team from the north put the heavyweights in Italian football in their place, conceding only two defeats in 30 league games and marching to the first and so far only championship title in the club's history in the 1984/85 season.

Very few people expected FC Aarau to become Swiss champions for the first time since 1914 before the 1992/93 season. The fact that Aarau finished the first half of the season in fifth place alone can be considered a success. But the hunger of coach Rolf Fringer's protégés is far from satiated.

FCA really took off in the final round. Only one defeat in 14 games - and the final decision was made on the third-last matchday. After a 2:1 home win over Sion, the team traveled together to the Letzigrund, where FCZ beat Servette 3:2 - thus making FC Aarau champions ahead of time.

It is probably the biggest surprise in Bundesliga history. After Kaiserslautern were relegated for the first time in the club's history in the summer of 1996, a certain Otto Rehhagel took over on the touchline. And the successful coach first leads FCK to direct promotion - and then achieves a major coup as a promoted team.

In the very first game of the season, the team from Lauter defeated the big FC Bayern away from home - and then left the Munich team behind for the entire season. Led by captain Ciriaco Sforza, the promoted team was only defeated four times throughout the season and completed the "miracle from Betzenberg" with a 4:0 victory over Wolfsburg on the penultimate matchday.

"There will never be anything like it again," championship-winning coach Otto Rehagel is certain.

A certain Roy Makaay is responsible for Deportivo La Coruña's miracle. The Dutchman transferred from relegated Tenerife to Deportivo in the summer of 1999 and went on to score a third of his new employers' goals. The Galicians also benefit from the fact that the two giants Real Madrid and Barcelona are not getting up to speed as usual this season. La Coruña lose 11 of 38 league games, but the 69 points are enough to win the only league title in the club's history - thanks in part to the investments made by president Augusto César Leondoiro.

After a 96-year drought, Jörg Stiel, Marc Zellweger, Charles Amoah, Ionel Gane and Giorgio Contini unexpectedly ensure championship ecstasy in eastern Switzerland. FCSG struggled in the pre-season and ended the season without a win in 12 games. The Espen then strengthened themselves almost exclusively with players from the then Nati B - and were nevertheless the measure of all things in the new season under coach Marcel Koller.

By the winter break, St.Gallen were already at the top of the table, and with four rounds to go, the championship race was already decided after a draw between Basel and Servette. In front of the TV sets, the eastern Swiss celebrate the second championship title in the club's history.

With Ludovic Magnin and Marco Streller, VfB pulls off the big surprise in the 2006/07 season, relegating Schalke and Bremen to second place and securing the fifth championship title in the club's history. On a dramatic final matchday, Stuttgart turned a 1-0 deficit against Cottbus into a 2-1 victory. Acclaimed scorer of the winning goal in the 63rd minute: future world champion Sami Khedira.

Halfway through the season, Wolfsburg were only in 9th place, but in the second half of the season, VfL started a sensational comeback under legendary coach Felix Magath - led by the best attacking duo in the Bundesliga. Grafite and Edin Dzeko scored no fewer than 54 league goals. The 5:1 gala against Bayern is particularly memorable. With the same result, Wolfsburg, with Diego Benaglio in goal, also beat Werder Bremen on the final matchday - and became German football champions for the only time in the club's history.

After the three major Istanbul clubs Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray and Beşiktaş had shared the Turkish championship title for 26 years, Bursaspor broke their dominance in the 2009/10 season and sensationally won the title - after a dramatic final matchday.

Bursaspor entered the final round one point behind Fenerbahçe and fulfilled its duty with a 2:1 win against Beşiktaş. Because the stadium announcer in the Fenerbahçe game then falsely announced that Bursaspor had only drawn 2-2, Fener only managed the draw against Trabzonspor and no longer attacked.

As a result, the pitch was stormed after the final whistle in both Bursa and Istanbul. However, the mood among Fener fans quickly changed when the false report was corrected.

FC Midtjylland was only founded in 1999 through the merger of two clubs. In 2014, Matthew Benham acquired a majority stake in the club and introduced a data-based analysis system to scout players and perfect moves.

The Moneyball approach brings success: On May 21, 2015, Midtjylland takes the decisive step with a 0-0 draw at FC Vestsjælland on the third-last matchday and becomes champions for the first time.

The Leicester miracle actually began in April 2015, when the Foxes found themselves at the bottom of the Premier League with nine rounds to go and seven points behind the drop zone. But then Leicester strung together seven wins in a row and managed to avoid relegation in extremis.

During the summer break, a new coach, Claudio Ranieri, moved to the small town in the East Midlands and put together a team that was very difficult to beat. In 38 league games, the surprise team has only suffered three defeats, and the big competition is waiting in vain for the predicted collapse - although the odds on the underdogs winning the league title at the start of the season are 1:5000. When rivals Tottenham only drew on the third-last matchday, the sensation was perfect: Leicester became Premier League champions for the first time.

Mjällby is on the brink of collapse in 2016. Only on the last matchday of the season did the Swedish village club save itself from relegation to the fourth division - and from insolvency. It was also the starting point of a football fairy tale that nine years later was to be crowned in a way never thought possible.

The team from the small village of 1,400 inhabitants in the southern province of Blekinge has no stars or big investors. Instead, the team relies on great cohesion. Many players live together in a kind of student dormitory.

With 20 wins from 27 games, Mjällby has dominated the 2024/25 season and is already unassailably in the lead on the third-last matchday. And the Swedish newspaper "Aftonbladet" headlines: "The sensation is a reality".