Two separate, but somehow related, trends are emerging across European football this year. The rich and successful stay rich and successful. FC Porto, Olympiacos and PSV Eindhoven have wrapped up their domestic titles. Real Madrid beat Osasuna 2-1 last night to win the Spanish league for the 31st time. Barring acts of God or earth-shattering turnarounds, Lyons, Inter Milan and Manchester United will do the same in the next two weeks.

What do they all have in common? Well, they all defended their titles. In fact, most of them have been dominating their domestic leagues for some time. For Inter and Porto that will be three titles on the bounce, for PSV and Olympiacos four and for Lyons an incredible seven straight. Turkey and Scotland are too close to call at this stage, but it’s entirely possible that Fenerbahçe and Celtic could also retain their titles.

Should this happen, it would leave Germany, where VfB Stuttgart are stuck in fifth place, as the Continent’s only leading league in which the champions have not successfully defended their title. And, even if Fenerbahçe and Celtic should falter, it would still be an unprecedented event.

There is no clear reason behind this trend, beyond the obvious point that success creates a cycle. Winning brings revenue, revenue brings better players and better players bring more victories. That said, circumstances vary. Lyons, Olympiacos, Porto and PSV are all simply better run and far wealthier than the competition. Inter were awarded their first title in the wake of the Calciopoli scandal and their second title was facilitated by the fact that their main opposition were given points penalties in that same case. A herculean effort helped Real to the title last year, whereas this season they have benefited from the implosion of competitors such as Barcelona and Seville.

Clearly, then, there is no tidy hypothesis to explain this. But what of another common thread linking this year’s champions? Ottmar Hitzfeld at Bayern Munich, Sef Vergoossen at PSV and José Segura at Olympiacos will be stepping aside this summer, despite leading their clubs to the title. Alain Perrin at Lyons and Roberto Mancini at Inter - despite official denials - will also probably make way. And maybe, just maybe, if Sir Alex Ferguson wins the Champions League he may decide that, at 66, it’s time to say goodbye to Old Trafford.

The point is that never before has there been such a turnover among the managers of Europe’s defending champions. Again, circumstances vary. Hitzfeld had announced his plans to retire (again). Lyons are not happy with the progress (or lack thereof) under Perrin. Vergoossen and Segura were interim appointments. Mancini may not want to stick around a club that need an overhaul.

Why change a successful manager? Maybe because of the growing belief that managers are not that important, at least not in those clubs that are wealthy and are built upon a solid foundation. PSV, Lyons and Olympiacos have each had four different managers during their runs of titles. Porto and Real Madrid have had two. Some will no doubt point to Avram Grant’s success at Chelsea this season as evidence that this theory holds water.

Or, perhaps, sometimes just winning isn’t enough. Ask Perrin. Or Takis Lemonis, who was sacked two months ago with Olympiacos on their way to the title. Or even the present England manager, who was relieved of his duties at the Bernabéu last summer. For most of the clubs at the top of the European pecking order it will be all change this summer. Which should make things interesting.

Zenit home in on success

Some greeted the rise of Zenit St Petersburg with the usual mix of scepticism and stereotyping. After all, isn’t this Vladimir Putin’s favourite club? And aren’t they owned by Gazprom, one of Russia’s wealthiest companies? And isn’t their squad stuffed with pricy South Americans?

Yes. Yes. And no. Zenit, who reached the Uefa Cup final after their 4-0 demolition of Bayern Munich in the second leg of their semi-final, are a legitimate force, but not some oil revenue-fuelled cosmopolitan gaggle of mercenaries. Seven regulars are fully-fledged Russians, another two are Ukrainians. It’s too early to say whether Russian football is making a comeback. But Zenit certainly are.

Japan’s garlic dread

Antidoping agencies are, for the most part, fighting the good fight. But sometimes their zeal takes them far beyond the bounds of common sense and turns them into urine-sample wielding versions of the Stasi.

Take the case of Kazuki Ganaha, the Kawasaki Frontale and Japan striker. When he came down with flu last year, his doctor prescribed intravenous garlic infusions (no, I didn’t know that garlic, in addition to warding off vampires, was also effective against influenza).

Now, garlic is neither a performance-enhancing drug, nor a banned substance. But intravenous treatment is prohibited by the J-League, in line with Fifa regulations. Therefore, he was banned.

Ganaha has taken his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne in an attempt to clear his name. Good for him. The madness and witch-hunts have to end at some point.