How are Europe’s major leagues shaping up at the winter break?

Levante, Almeria and Granada all have their heads above water for now, as Deportivo La Corunna, Cordoba and Elche all occupy spots in the drop zone.

Ligue 1
There’s method in the madness of eccentric Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa, as his Marseille side are leading the way in France after 19 games. They are two clear of the other team that have Olympique in their name, Lyon, with reigning champions PSG a point further back.

St-Etienne, Monaco and Bordeaux are all in the mix for European places, ahead of Rennes, Reims and Montpellier. Lille, a side often plundered by Premier League teams for the talent it produces, sit a lowly 13th in mid-table alongside Toulouse and behind Nice and Guingamp.

Nobody in the bottom half is safe from a relegation battle, with Lorient, Lens and Metz just outside danger. Evian are inside on goal difference, but it’s going to be hard for Bastia and Caen to come up with a survival bid.

Eredivisie
Could this be the year when PSV Eindhoven break the domestic Dutch domination of Ajax? Frank de Boer’s Amsterdam outfit trail by four points at the halfway stage in a 34-game campaign.

Rotterdam giants Feyenoord are the closest challengers, while former champions Twente and AZ Alkmaar are on course for the European play-offs. Chelsea’s feeder club, Vitesse Arnhem, meanwhile, joined Heerenveen in mid-table.

Six sides from Rotterdam’s other team, Excelsior, down will be worried about relegation. Minnows Dordrecht look set to drown, as they have just seven points and that makes them nine from safety already.

Bundesliga
Bayern Munich have an 11-point lead in their bid to retain the German title for a third successive season, and that looks a mere formality now. Wolfsburg sit six ahead of Bayer Leverkusen, who head the European challengers.

Four points separate Borussia Monchengladbach (fourth) from Eintracht Frankfurth (ninth), with Roberto Di Matteo’s Schalke, Augsburg, Hoffenheim and Hannover also in the mix. Promoted Paderborn and Cologne join Mainz in mid-table, meanwhile.

Below them are five Bundesliga heavyweights that no longer seem to pack much of a punch. Hertha Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Werder Bremen and Jurgen Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund all have a relegation battle on their hands, and Freiburg prop up the table.