Today's WSJ reports that Real Madrid and Barcelona now have 5 of the top 7 and 10 of the top 20 players in the world (Castrol Power Rankings). As a result, WSJ suggests this power drain is creating parity in other European leagues, since the top 2 teams of each league no longer have so many overpoweringly better players. "How Spanish Greed is Fixing Soccer" WSJ Nov-25-2011 pg D7 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204630904577056202393365684.html Maybe the idea is kind of a stretch, or maybe the real factor is that the top 20 players are mostly Spaniards? I have no knowledge of these Castrol rankings.