LA LIGA TEAMS MILES AHEAD OF THE REST
Sunil K Vaidya
Sports Editor
La Liga is miles ahead of the rest, so much so that the Spanish clubs can now confidently challenge their counterparts in rest of Europe to catch them if they can.
Two Madrid teams, Real and Atletico, clash in Milan on Saturday to decide the winners of the Champions League after Seville outplayed Liverpool for the Europa League title last week.
With the Champions League silverware safely in a Spanish club’s hands, they continue their stranglehold over trophies in the continent’s championships.
It would be the third season when the winners of the Champions League and the Europa League are from Spain.
In the last three seasons, the Spanish clubs’ dominance has been complete. La Liga clubs have managed to win 46 of the last 50 games that they have played in European competitions against teams from other leagues, including the qualifiers.
Clubs from the Iberian Peninsula won 17 of their knockout ties against non-Spanish opposition this season, except Villarreal’s defeat to Liverpool in the Europa League semis. That speaks for their supremacy over teams from other European Leagues.
The Spanish monopoly over the other European clubs is so much, that in the last five years, Atletico have played 63 European ties, followed by Real Madrid on 62, Barcelona 57, Sevilla 53, Athletic Bilbao 52 and Valencia 48.
Most English clubs are not as keen for their Europa League campaign. They prefer to concentrate on their national league to bounce back into the Champions League contention the next year while La Liga teams have learnt to keep a right balance. Thus, they won six Europa League titles in the last ten years, besides three other runs to the final. Thus, the Spanish clubs have mastered the art of handling the peculiarities of the European matches.
None of the Spanish clubs have lost Champions League or Europa League final since Bayern Munich ousted Valencia in 2001 in the Champions League. Since then, Spanish clubs have won 13 finals.
Spanish clubs dominate because their own league is far tougher compared to the other leagues. A La Liga club would find travelling to play the best side in Italy, Germany or England much easier than taking on the hosts at Camp Nou or Santiago Bernabeu.
While the richer Spanish clubs have spending power to get the best in the world, they also ensure that their academies churn out talented youngsters. If these young players cannot find place at the club after passing out of their academies, the other smaller Spanish club absorb them and benefit. There is a sense of camaraderie among homegrown players that is difficult to find among the super stars.
The technically sound Spanish clubs’ short passing style of tikitaka has also played a large part in their success against the longball games, mostly employed by the English clubs.
The English sides have money power to match the Spaniards but in England, the giants have fallen by the way side. A team like Leicester City, which until last season was struggling to stay afloat in Premier League, has won and big names like Liverpool and Manchester United and Chelsea have struggled even to qualify for the Champions League.
The Spanish football continues to dominate, as the rest of the Europe is yet to wake up from their slumber to challenge them on a big stage.