If Drafted Into The Premier League, Would Barca And Real Madrid Dominate And Reign Supreme Over All…My Analysis

 Arsenal, Barcelona, Chelsea FC, General Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid  Add comments

Sep 052013

 

The European leagues are back in full effect and don’t fans love it. Back are the bantering, nailing biting moments, raucous goal celebrations, cheers and boos, the usual controversies and divisive talking points. Also back on the lips of fans with relish is the argument of which European league is superior (especially now that the Brazilian Seleҫao dealt La Furia Roja a big blow at CONFED 2013 final in June at Rio De Janiero). 

The hotly debatable assertion that the Spanish La Liga is superior to the English Premier League tops the list.

Fans of La Liga are quick to say that Spanish giants, FC Barca and Real Madrid, if drafted into the Premier League would dominate and reign supreme over the teams there. How justifiable is this claim?

 Do you see Barca and Real Madrid dominating the Premier League the way they have La Liga in chokehold? Let’s take a little walk through history and examine what gave La Liga fans the bragging rights and why it doesn’t hold water, shall we?

Firstly, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona share 54 league titles between them (22 and 32 respectively) and are amongst the elite membership of clubs yet to taste relegation since been founded. That alone is enviable. Spanish domination of the European game coincided with the rise of both clubs in the game.

Real Madrid dominated the mid 50s to early 60s when they won the European Cup for 5 straight years and Barca, though always competing with the best, took the world by storm with their Tiki-Taka style since winning their 2nd Champions league crown in 2006.

Madrid’s hegemony of the 1955-1960 was unprecedented in the game, no club had dominated the scene in such colossal magnitude nor has it been repeated, their dominion was broken when Benfica, AC and Inter Milan took the cup from 1961 to 1965. The 1966 cup returned to the Bernabeu after which they endured a 32-year hiatus. Barcelona joined the big league in the 90s led by the ‘Total Football’ proponent, Johann Cruyff. They won the 1992 title and made a return in 2006 and refused to go away since then, ensuring they made the semi-final appearances, and claiming the 2009 and 2011 titles.

English clubs’ rise began with United’s win of 1968 at Wembley. Advocates of the La Liga develop a convenient loss of memory of 1977 to 1984 when Bob Paisley and Brian Clough engineered Liverpool FC and Nottingham Forest’s European Cup wins, besides Aston Villa’s of 1982. Hamburg of Germany stole one cup in 1983 and Liverpool came back to win in 1984.

The English clubs had Europe under their heels for 6 straight seasons (1977-82). What broke the English reign was the ban that followed that Heysel Stadium finale disaster between Liverpool and Juventus in 1985. That kept the English teams out of Europe for 5 seasons. They made a return with Arsenal in the 1991-92.

A look at the statistics reveals La Liga clubs have 13 titles (Madrid 9 and Barca 4) while Premier league clubs have 12 (Liverpool 5, Manchester United 3, Nottingham Forest 2 and Aston Villa 1 respectively). La Liga fans may love the artistry and technicality but dislike the intensity and unpredictability of the Premier League but the average football fan find the EPL much more interesting and captivating.

If for some reason, be it fantasy or adventurism, the Premier League were to expand to the 22-team format rested in the 1995-96 season to admit Real Madrid and FC Barca, what do you think would likely take place? I think both La Liga dominators would count themselves lucky if they made Europe with 6 slots to fight for…and here’s why.

THEY PLAY MORE MATCHES IN THE ENGLISH LEAGUE
For starters, they play more matches, all action and gung-ho, in England than in Spain. How’s that for a reality check. Spanish clubs are used to the League, Copa Del Rey and the Champions League, in England they’ll play 4 competitions. The League Cup is an unwanted but still prestigious distraction, not counting the FA Cup replays which translate to additional 4-6 matches.

 The technically gifted and artistic players would be stretched to the limit and worn out by the mere fact that they’ve more work to do. They’ll collapse like a pack of cards in the face of the demands of the far more intense league; the EPL is by far more competitive.
THERE’S NO WINTER BREAK IN ENGLAND

The English League doesn’t go on winter break, wouldn’t that be kind of inconvenient for the players these clubs? The luxury and joy of being with family and friends during Christmas doesn’t exist in the EPL,
muchachos!

That’s another 3 weeks added to their work days, they’re not psychologically and physically prepared for missing the winter break. Now we know why Carlos Tevez was homesick and bawling about the relentless cold rains and elongated winters. Some of these Spaniards would like to play in fur shorts and less fancied snoods!

ENGLISH CLUBS WOULD COMPETE FINANCIALLY WITH THEM UNLIKE WHAT HAPPENS IN LA LIGA

Real Madrid and Barca won’t be the only ones buying top-class players. The Mansours won’t just cross their arms, Roman Abrahamovic would splash the cash, The Glazers would borrow, the competition would be fierce. Take the situation where Sunderland, Norwich City and Southampton bought to consolidate their place in the League when United and Arsenal were still stalling, that’s how competitive the EPL can be.

Whatever dominance they enjoy in La Liga cannot follow them to the most intense league in the world, the pace and physicality of the EPL would cut Real Madrid and Barca down to size in a matter of months. Let’s just keep enjoying things the way they are and allow the Champions League remain the arbiter of club football.

That’s my take, what do you think?