Best domestic competition in Europe? / Image via laliga.es
An ongoing debate on which club competition should be considered the most quality one has been given another significant point in favour of Spanish La Liga.
Spanish clubs are dominant in the hunt for European glory this term, both in the Champions League and Europa League with La Liga sides evenly spread with two contenders in each competition.
Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid will be vying for their place in the Champions League finals against Manchester City and Bayern Munich respectively, while Villarreal and Sevilla will go against Liverpool and Shakhtar in their respective semi-final ties.
Numbers tell a compelling story
Out of the eight teams left in two continental competitions, half of those are from La Liga, which is just another confirmation of Spanish dominance over the last decade.
Since 2005-06, Spanish teams have won 11 European titles and La Liga has produced 14 finalists across two major continental competitions.
England are behind in second place with 11 finalists and these days there is little doubt about the Spanish supremacy over the likes of Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A and other domestic competitions across Europe.
Spain have been dominating the UEFA ranking for club competitions for years back and the association club coefficient of 20,071 in 2015-16 season is just another indicator of Spanish dominance over Germany’s coefficient of 15,857 or England’s 13,250 and Italy’s 11,500.
Premier League not a worthy rival
Premier League’s claims to being the Europe’s best division have long failed to stand up against the increasing quality of Spanish La Liga.
Best organized, most unpredictable competition and commercially most appealing are the best adjectives to describe the Premier League, which is losing its European battle in the long run.
Arsenal’s last-16 elimination by the hands of Barcelona, a well-placed sequel of Chelsea defeat to Paris Saint-Germain were this year backed by Tottenham’s failure in the Europa League against Borussia Dortmund, who ultimately failed to double the English blow in the next stage of the competition.
England have maintained the European status quo with Manchester City and Liverpool being the only two teams still holding the English flag up at the continent.
Chelsea and Arsenal have finished their European campaign getting outplayed by superior sides in the knockouts, while Tottenham gave themselves just a half a chance to be considered proper European candidates against a tantalizing Borussia Dortmuns.
Sadly enough, English football has justified its UEFA coefficient and Liverpool’s fascinating comeback against Borussia Dortmund in the Europa League quarter-final will do little to hide the fact that England is trailing behind European competition.
Liverpool’s show has been more of a mass amusement that a sign of English resurrection in the European competitions, but Reds still have better chances than Manchester City of reaching the finals and getting the chance to fight for European glory.
La Liga dominance continues
It will not be an easy task as they need to go around Villarreal to earn their place in the showpiece that will most likely see Sevilla take their place in the final match for the third time in a row.
Unai Emery’s side have been dominating the competition over the last couple of years with back-to-back titles in the last two seasons and winning the third would be a precedent in the competition’s history.
Rojiblancos have so far lifted the trophy four times as they had other two titles, also consecutive, in 2005-06 and in 2006-07.
When it comes to Champions League, Spanish teams have every chance in the world to stand on the European pedestal for the third time on the bounce. Split evenly on each side of the draw, Madrid rivals will battle it out for their place in the finals with Los Blancos being made favourites between the two teams at the odds of 15/8 to be crowned kings of Europe for the eleventh time in the club’s history.
La Decima has been won in all Madrid final in 2013-14 after which Barcelona went on to lift the trophy following their 3-1 triumph over Juventus, which was the fifth Spanish Champions League title since 2005-06.
UEFA to react
With the competitive nature of Europe’s top domestic championship still subject of public debate, many would argue that the global cosmopolitanism of the Premier League as the richest league in the world stands out in its failure to produce substantial results on the continental stage.
On the other side we have not as much commercialized La Liga competition eagerly anticipating the date when UEFA will grant the much deserved fifth Champions League place.
The fact that Spanish clubs have a success rate of 94% when it comes to winning the knockout ties in Europe is enough of an argument serving in favour of such idea.
Ultimately, should La Liga be awarded with another Champions League berth?
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