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The first thing that comes to the mind is how can a rivalry comprising two of the best footballing sides in the world (which also boasts of the best footballers in present day football) do harm to the league? Well the exact opposite came to my mind when one of my buddies argued that La Liga has overtaken the premier league by virtue of having Real Madrid and Barcelona. But spare some time and think for a moment that behind the pomp and show of the ‘El Clasico’ is all actually going well for the Spanish league? I am afraid the answer is a worrying ‘No’. Now lets take a closer look at the situation of the Liga BBVA with the other big leagues like EPL and Serie A.
At first thought it is good to have the two best teams in the world play in the same league but their continued dominance can be rather harmful in the long run. Yes you might point out that there have also been dominance of this type in other leagues like the Big Four in EPL till some time back; but in the present scenario it has all changed. In England the oil money fuelled rise of Manchester City and the stunning rise of the perennial underachievers Tottenham has led to the league being more open and exciting. Now the fact of the matter is that you have one ‘El Clasico’ in the La Liga but you have numerous such ‘El Clasico’s in EPL; cause now any match between the top six teams or so in the league is huge as gone are the days when the big four were supposed to win. Also a major point is the Big Four already have an established fan base across the world and with the new players like Man City and Tottenham coming in only means more new fans and thus the popularity of the league increases.
The rise of Manchester City has added a new flair to the premier league.
Lets face it in this age of globalisation each club has fans spread across the globe; no longer is it limited to its surrounding areas and mind you these new fans mean more revenue. So for such an huge plethora of fans the main objective to see competitive football and obviously they aren’t going to support a team they know which has no chance to make it among the table toppers. So like in England a look at the table will tell you how open the league has become with over 4-5 teams in contention for the third and fourth spot, while on the other hand who do you have in the Liga BBVA? I mean we all know it is going to be a 1-2 finish for Madrid and Barca but what about the rest? Do you really care as to how Valencia or Levante or maybe some other team that is playing? These my friends are the tough questions which pop up when you look closely at the health of the league. Lets now move onto Italy…
With the return of Juventus, the recent duopoly of the Milan clubs have been challenged.
With the return of Juventus and the rise of a talented Napoli team the vice like grip on the scudetto of the Milan duo has ended; along with Roma, Lazio and Udinese, Serie A has turned into another exciting and open league. I remember watching a match between Napoli and Juventus which ended in a thrilling 3-3 draw. These are matches fans live to see, it is these edge of the seat thrillers that makes you crave for more. But can you remember a match where Madrid or Barca faced such competition, I agree there are few instances here and there but on the whole they are mainly considered upsets. Now that is cause for concern; I mean you would get probably the highest TRPs for the ‘El Clasico’ but what about the other matches. On the other hand the other two leagues have matches of such magnitude on almost a regular basis. Also the recent excess the ‘El Clasico’ has actually the opposite effect on viewers with many of them turning giddy with an overdose of seeing the same set of players battle it out for supremacy.
It is a fact the La Liga in recent years has become synonymous with the ‘El Clasico’ and risks losing it’s own identity. I agree the magic and charm of the ‘El Clasico’ is here to stay and with the present quality of players in both the clubs it can only go higher; but the fact remains in a few years, it will be leagues like the EPL and Serie A which will emerge winners at the expense of Liga BBVA (or should I say it would be known only as the ‘El Clasico’ then).
P.S.- I want to add here I have not taken into consideration the Champions League success of clubs from the different leagues, as UCL being a knockout tournament does not give you an actual idea of the competitiveness of the league but is more like a World Cup where if its your day even an underdog can cause huge upsets.
