Only Madrid, Barca, and Atleti, and perhaps Villarreal, and Sevilla... The rest of the teams wouldn't be able to compete in the EPL...
I didn't mean to imply they lacked talent after the loss. still lot of good players left but it has affected chemistry for sure...
No. Perhaps in terms of physicality/pace... not quality. After the top 6 in England, there are probably 5 or 6 additional teams in La Liga I rate over anyone outside the top 6 in England. Put a different way, if you took both leagues and created a league from the 20 best teams, PL would probably have 8 or 9 and La Liga 11 or 12... When you consider the purchasing power of PL teams, and were somehow able to adjust for it, it would be even more skewed... I doubt Real Madrid and Barcelona would ever agree to a shared TV contract and long term, it will be to the detriment of the other teams unless they continue to produce quality players to make money...
The Leicester year not withstanding, are there more than three teams in the Premier League that anyone really gives a chance to win on any given year? Man City, Man U, Chelsea... I know Spuds have finished top 3 but no one realistically expects them to win the league... Same for Arsenal or Liverpool. So the criticism that La Liga is less competitive is less meaningful even if somewhat accurate... The gap is more stark between top 3 in La Liga and top 6 in England but people shouldn't conflate that with the rest of the league lacking quality...
EPL teams has been bossing in their European competition matches. It isn't too long ago when EPL teams were a laughing stock in European competitions.
Everton's eliminated in a group with Atalanta, Lyon and some Cypriot team. West Ham lost to the same Romanian team 2 years in a row. Arsenal receiving 5-1 spankings by Bayern. Past couple of years only City and Leicester got further than the round of 16 I doubt the trend of EPL teams not winning the CL is broken this season, no matter how good they look right now.
not to mention a coach who has explicitly stated that la liga is more difficult currently has a team that is celtic-ing its way to a title (still early, but seems promising), 11-1-0 with a +33 goal differential. the eight place team is watford. does anyone really think watford could compete for european spots in la liga or bundesliga? ive grown to like the epl over recent times, but that doesn't make a lot of the comments about it any less stupid.
Oh shit. 1st tiebreaker is points in head to head matches so Liverpool need at least a draw. Sevilla losing to Maribor not likely...
To be fair, the money from Europa league doesn't justify risking PL table money... Not that they wouldn't have lost but I think the financial difference from a single spot in PL table is much greater than each round in Europa League... Premier league monies split 2 ways, one pot is equally divided among all PL teams, the other depends on final table position...
Things are cyclical and with the money they spend, they will be back for certain even though English football pyramid fixture schedules do English teams in European competitions no favors. Given the amount of money the English squads have for transfers and salaries (compared to all but 3 or 4 other teams in all of Europe), they should be doing better... Higuain was Juventus highest paid at 8 million Euro a year in 2016-2017... He'd probably make more at 6 or 7 English clubs...
If that were the case, EPL=MMLS... EPL is not MMLS... You got players with a very developed technique, not just merely physical developed... Spurs were a superior team than Madrid both physically, and technically... So, yes... They proved the EPL can be quality wise as good as La Liga... Chelsea also proved to be better than Atleti, and Liverpool better than Sevilla... EPL prioritizes both aspects... La Liga, not so much... That's why you see Barca and Madrid steamrolling over minnow rivals. I don't think they'd get away with 6-0 or 7-0 scorelines in the EPL...
FC Basel with that United upset... United played with all of their starters including dab master, Pogba... Llourinho must be enraged...
What? This statement by itself is ridiculous. Outside of the top six, there aren't nearly as many players with developed technique. I watch 5 or 6 PL matches every weekend... This simply isn't true. Watch Newcastle play Swansea or Huddersfield play Brighton or Bournemouth and tell me how many technical players these duses have... Fast pace and lots of flying tackles for sure. Technique, not so much... This comparison would carry more weight if Real Madrid wasn't also struggling in La Liga. It isn't because they were playing an English team... I give Spuds credit for taking it to Madrid but Madrid's been off the mark in all competitions... Having said that, I know which team I would pick if Real Madrid faced Spuds in a knockout round... I suspect you'd pick the same team... As for Atleti, they did themselves no favors... dominated Roma in 0-0 draw but not able to score hitting the post, also two draws with Qarabag that should have been wins... They'd easily be advancing were it not for the lack of finishing. This wasn't anything their opponents managed to do to them but rather self-inflicted. They struggled a lot without Koke. They steamroll minnows because the gap of resources (read money) is much larger in La Liga than the Premier League... Look at how the Premier League teams divide money. If your argument is the EPL has more parity from top to bottom, then I'd agree. But Barca, Real Madrid (even when struggling) and Atleti (same) are miles ahead of everyone except Man City. I'd still rate them all ahead... English teams have not done anything (yet) in the last several seasons to warrant a realistic comparison to La Liga... Shit, until this year they weren't even the 2nd best league in Europe... The jury is still out. 5 teams likely to advance and quite possibly all as group winners which means they should not be drawn together in round of 16... That will be the first test of where they are as a league currently...
This. Only four teams from any given league get in the CL with England getting five this year... La Liga consistently does better with their four spots... Even moreso if you count Europa League... Since Chelsea won in 2011-2012, EPL has only managed 4 UCL QF appearances in that time. Chelsea and Man U hit QFs a few years back with Chelsea reaching semis, Leicester did last season and Man City doing one better the year before... Ligue 1 has more QFs over that span... Leicester did well to knock out Sevilla in 16 but getting grouped with Brugge, Copenhagen and Porto always helps to get there... I think this could be the year the pendulum swings back the other way with Man City having the best chance... They have to do it tho. What has happened up to this point won't mean much if they all crash out by QFs...
Saying La Liga is the best league is just as ludicrous... Madrid, and Barca have no opposition... But whatever...
Your talking about parity, breh. Not the same thing as quality... Look at Europa League over the past several seasons... La Liga still superior..
That shit is long... But you said it yourself... Madrid and Barce are only dominating because of the economic disparity, which is frankly a joke... Until the new millennia, it was more even... That's why you had teams like Super Depor, Atleto, and Valencia, etc... winning the league trophy... Now it's just a two horse race... it ain't shit... If that's your argument why is the "best league" in the world, I can't help you... carry on...
Again, parity not quality. I will take Sevilla, Valencia, Villarreal, Athletic Bilbao or La Real over an Everton, Southampton, West Ham, or Stoke etc any day of the week.
And I don't disagree on the economic disparity. I think its bad for football long-term at least in La Liga and other places with similar disparity...
"Consistently do better?". No, they don't... Only Madrid, Atleti, and Barca have done it... Sevilla always choke... Villarreal didn't even qualified last year... La Liga could have had 5 teams last season as oppose to the 5 English teams that qualified this season, and they are also making the knock out stages... That's just like your opinion, man, and it's flawed... Only two Spanish clubs Spanish clubs have won the Champions League... Should I remind you United won the Europa League last season as opposed to Liverpool who embarrassingly lost against Sevilla?. Your argument is super inconsistent and relative...