Europe has a lot to do to catch the Premier League

By far and away the most exciting fixture on television at the weekend was El Clasico,between Barcelona and Real Madrid. And so it proved. Lightening counter attacks, glittering individual skills and a number of robust challenges resulted in a 1-0 victory to the Catalans with both sides down to 10 men. Yet the dominance of this fixture in Spain also highlights the weakness of La Liga.

In England we were treated to two rival clashes. Whilst Everton vs Liverpool and Arsenal vs Chelsea aren’t comparable to the magnitude of a Barca Real clash, they draw attention from around the world. They were the biggest games of the weekend but they did not involve the only sides who can win the league. Whilst it may appear that only Chelsea and Manchester United are in with a shout of lifting the trophy, it would be foolish to write of those below them (except Liverpool).

Chelsea will lose Drogba, Essien, Kalou and Mikel to the African Cup of Nations in January. They all play for strong nations in that competition too, so could well play a lot of football in Angola. This could impact upon their performances for the rest of season. Man United have shown that they are capable of losing this term and are only an injury to Wayne Rooney away from finding themselves in a spot of bother right now.

This brings Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham back into contention. Everyone has highlighted an ability to beat everyone else. In Spain, only Sevilla posses the ingredients to push the Big Two. They lie four points adrift of top spot in third and have already seen off Real Madrid this season. Valencia sit one point further adrift but any momentum they steal at this early stage of the season will surely be stolen in January when their crippling debt demands the sale of key assets – namely David Villa, Juan Mata and David Silva. All three are on the radar’s of Barca and Real. The gap widens…

The same thing happens in Germany. Bayern Munich, despite a lack of recent success, use their superior financial clout to lure the best players from around the country. Miroslav Klose, Mario Gomez and Michael Ballack are the most high-profile recent examples of Bayern poaching from within Germany.

In Italy, meanwhile, the standard of football has dropped immeasurably since the halcyon days of the late 1990s. Juventus lost it all during the calciopolli match-fixing scandal and Roma, Lazio and Fiorentina have all succumbed to financial burdens. AC Milan is in disarray and only Inter Milan appears capable of a shot at the Scudetto. Inter’s dominance has become a complete bore in Italy. But even they are struggling in European competition. With the obvious exceptions of AC Milan’s Champions League Final appearances in 2005 and 2007, no Italian side has stood out in Europe.

So all of this leaves the Premier League as Europe’s and the World’s premier league. There is more money because of more television viewers globally and there is a plethora of nations represented across the league. This has been to the detriment of the national side. Italy won the 2006 World Cup, Spain won Euro 2008. Germany consistently perform at international tournaments. All three have a number of players vying for each slot in the national XI. England’s XI, even considering the recent Capello revival, is fairly set in stone.

So which is best? A strong domestic league or a strong national side?  It’s a personal decision whether you prefer to see your club or your country doing well. You decide.

Miles Reucroft

December 1, 2009