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La Liga’s dominance in Europe shows no sign of relenting

For La Liga fans it’s tiring to hear the same boring, unfounded remarks about how the Spanish league is simply Real Madrid and Barcelona plus 18 others. The reasoning behind this way of thinking is because both clubs have seemingly limitless amounts of money so can sign the best players while the rest feed on scraps due to an unbalanced domestic – and international - TV deal.

Now that statement carries a lot of truth, no one can deny that, but it’s ludicrous to dismiss the rest because they aren’t as rich or well known as Real or Barcelona. The same fans who cry outrage when the prospect of a European Super League is mentioned but only judge a country’s level on its elite teams – who else matters, right?

The key difference being that those rich sides in the Premier League don’t invest their money as wisely. They’ve become sloppy, lazy even, as the coffers continue to overflow. The type of person who never asks for his change as there’s no danger of him going broke. If something costs £20 but you can buy the parts for £5 and make it yourself, you’ll pay £20 without a second’s thought. Loadsa money. Easy.

Due to the awfully lopsided TV deal mentioned at the beginning, the clubs below Barcelona and Real Madrid have had to find other ways to keep up with the rest of Europe. Instead of throwing (that little) money at their problems they’ve created long term solutions to see them through.

It might be as simple as buddying up to a richer side with a promise to give their first-team football starved youngsters a chance, investing in their scouting network and coaching staff in order to produce their own youngsters or yes, some have even got into the bed with the devil himself and bought percentages of players, unable to stop them if their true owner decides to move them on. All three scenarios have suited those unable to count on millions and now, with TV money finally filtering down, they are a force to be reckoned with again in Europe.

If earning less than Real Madrid or Barcelona is considered failure, then every side in world football is guilty - bar maybe one or two.

This year has seen the rise of Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur to the top of the Premier League table at the expense of bigger, richer sides. Arsenal are about par but Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea have all underachieved to varying levels. That makes the league more competitive, more fun, but does it make it better in terms of quality?

Manchester United went out at the group stage of the Champions League while Arsenal scraped through by the skin of their teeth. Chelsea fell at the Round of 16 stage to PSG as did Arsenal to Barcelona. Manchester City have been the only success story for England in this season’s Champions League, escaping a tough group to make the semi-finals.

In the Europa League it was even worse as West Ham bowed out at the third qualifying round while Southampton went just one stage further before losing in the first play-off round. Tottenham and Liverpool successfully qualified from their respective groups but both Spurs and the relegated-to-the-Europa-League United went out in the Round of 16. Liverpool continue on in the semi-finals.

Now some of you might be thinking I’m being too harsh and that having a representative of the Premier League in the semi-finals of both the Champions League and Europa League is good. I’d say it’s okay.

Spain had five representatives in the Champions League but two – Valencia and Sevilla - quickly left the competition at only the group stage. Barcelona made it to the quarter-finals but fell to Atletico, who booked their place in the final last night, and Real Madrid will contest the other semi-final tonight.

In the Europa League both Athletic Club and Villarreal progressed from their groups to be joined with Champions League drop-outs Valencia and Sevilla. All four made it to the Round of 16 but Valencia lost to Athletic. At the quarter-final stage they themselves lost out to Sevilla. Villarreal are, alongside Sevilla, in the semi final matches to be contested tomorrow evening.

Now I know what you’re thinking: La Liga doesn’t have a lot more representatives than the Premier League at the semi final stage of either competition. The main issue is that the only sides to knock out Spanish teams have been fellow Spanish clubs. No one from another league, in the 13 matches over the two competitions, has beaten a Spanish side. That’s remarkable and a testament to the strength of the league itself – not just the main two.

In fact, only three non-Spanish sides have managed to knock out La Liga opposition in the past three seasons (including the current one): Torino (vs Athletic Club), PSG (vs Valencia) and Juventus (vs Real Madrid). That’s an incredible win record of 44 victories in their last 47 ties for Spanish teams against foreign opposition. That wouldn’t be possible if not for the strength of the division itself.

There’s a very real prospect of an all-Spanish final in both the Champions League and Europa League this year and it wouldn’t surprise anyone to see Spain make it a clean sweep for a third time in a row.

While there’s a debate to be had about which league is the most entertaining or the most exciting, there’s no debate to be had over which league possesses the highest quality.