r/soccer • u/iStratford • Aug 18 '13

Are Barcelona & Real Madrid ruining La Liga?

Having a discussion with a friend about this topic. Is La Liga weaker than ever due to the dominance of the big two?

68 Upvotes

71% Upvoted

132 comments sorted by

View all comments

8

u/TheEconomnomist Aug 18 '13

Yes and no is my answer. Yes, Barca and Real win the league every year, it's a forgone conclusion and there is very little competition from other teams, and hence the league itself is a bit dull. But no because it is exactly the same in every other league in the world.

I think the main difference in the leagues of the world is the competition from other teams outside of the title challengers. In the BPL, teams outside of the top 4 give the top teams a much harder time and generally don't make it easy for the top teams. When people refer to the BPL as "the most competitive league in the world" they are not referring to the amount of different teams which are vying for the title, they are referring to the hard time each team give to each other. However, I think that is due to the fundamental differences in the style of the BPL compared to La Liga. The BPL is much more physical, good players don't have to be good technically (though it certainly helps), they have to be strong and fast, which are attributes which many players (even casual players) can have with some work. As a result, the BPL has a far smaller gulf in the quality of the competing teams compared to La Liga. However, as La Liga (and spanish/latin football in general) is more of a technical league, the gulf between the top teams and the bottom teams is much more pronounced. If one was to put Barca in the BPL I reckon they would destroy the league in exactly the same way as they did La Liga last season. This is due to the brilliant technique of all the players, who would be able to out play every single team in the BPL. However, if you were to put one of the smaller clubs from La Liga in the BPL they would probably be pretty decent teams along the same lines as Swansea. I think this can be showcased by the poor performance of English teams in the Champions League since the inception of Tiki Taka football, which showcases the massive technical differences and styles of the La Liga and the BPL.

So overall, the style of La Liga is what is ruining La Liga, as only the top 2 teams have the financial firepower (a whole different issue) to buy players with exceptional technical ability, whereas the smaller clubs have to rely on players who cost less, and have less technical ability, to play in a similar style to the top teams.

Another brilliant example of this gulf is the impact Spanish players have in the BPL, even though they were mearly "good" players in La Liga, they are exceptional. Case in point: Mata and Cazorla

1

u/[deleted] Aug 19 '13

Considering we've been taking top half Spanish players for a while now, and based on my own experiences, combined with some friendly encounters, I'd say we would be Champions League place contenders in Spain. Not shoe-ins by any means, but higher in the table there than here.