A few days ago, Real Zaragoza president Eduardo Bandres said: “The Spanish league will be a matter totally and absolutely between two teams, among other things because the system for distributing television rights determines that it will be this way. It is unique in Europe and because of this the Spanish league is one of the most boring in Europe.”
The television channels would beg to differ, as they regularly run adverts or open their coverage of matches from La Liga claiming it is the ‘best league in the world’ with clips of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Lionel Messi running in the background.
But Bandres has a point. Five games in, and the table has an all-too familiar look about it. There are only two clubs left with a 100 percent record – Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Who has scored the most goals? Real and Barca with 16 apiece.
Who has conceded the fewest? Real with two. Barca have let in three.
Which clubs have the most money? Real and Barca are both working on budgets of over 400 million euros, three to four times greater than their nearest rivals. They rake in around half of the money earned from La Liga’s television rights, which are not negotiated on a collective basis.
At least Valencia’s David Villa bucks the trend in the individual goal-scoring charts, topping the rankings with six, but second behind him with five each are Ibrahimovic, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
There are four clubs expected to be mixing it at the top and competing for Spain’s other two Champions League qualification places: Sevilla, Valencia, Atletico Madrid and Villarreal.
Atletico and Villarreal are in the bottom three without a win from their opening matches, and are already 12 and 13 points adrift of Real and Barca respectively. Valencia have slipped down to seventh without a win in their last three outings.
Only Sevilla are putting up a fight, and they lie third with 12 points from a possible 15. They have a squad that boasts Frederic Kanoute, Luis Fabiano and Alvaro Negredo up front, with the likes of Jesus Navas, Diego Capel and Diego Perotti providing the bullets.
They have won six on the trot in all competitions and will provide Real Madrid with their stiffest test yet when Manuel Pellegrini’s side visit the Sanchez Pizjuan on Sunday. As things stand, this is Real’s most difficult league clash of the season outside of their home and away battles with Barca.
A victory for Sevilla could signal the start of a genuine challenge from the Andalucians, and add some much needed spice to the title race. A defeat would leave more people agreeing with Bandres.
PHOTO: Barcelona’s Lionel Messi celebrates his goal against Real Madrid, May 2, 2009. REUTERS/Juan Medina
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[...] original here: La Liga: The most boring competition in Europe? Posted in News | Tags: barcelona, entertainment, europe, la-liga, News, picture, real-madrid, [...]
- Posted by La Liga: The most boring competition in Europe?[...] Source add it: Tags: atletico madrid, Barcelona, champions league, collective basis, cristiano ronaldo, DAVID VILLA, diego capel, Diego Perotti, Eduardo Bandres, Europe, fabi, few days, five games, frederic kanoute, Jesus, Lionel, lionel messi, luis fabiano, MADRID, president eduardo, real madrid, rivals, ronaldo, s david, SEVILLA, Spain, spanish league, television channels, television rights, Valencia, Villarreal, Zaragoza, zlatan ibrahimovic [...]
- Posted by La Liga: The most boring competition in Europe? - Posted In LA Liga | Soccer News Info - Soccer News Info[...] original here: Reuters Soccer Blog » Blog Archive » La Liga: The most boring … Share and [...]
- Posted by Reuters Soccer Blog » Blog Archive » La Liga: The most boring … | Sport WeblogIf La Liga is boring, what is the EPL, given the fact that Manchester United has won almost all EPL titles since its inception?
Meanwhile, all the best players in the world are moving to the boring La Liga. Meanwhile, English journalists continue to hype the EPL.
Given the way in which Barcelona dominated and outclassed Manchester United in the Champions League final, it is obvious that Barca and Madrid are winning because they are strong, and not because La Liga is boring.
- Posted by AfricanIts all very well Real and Barca being very strong, which of course they are, but La Liga is boring for that very reason.
- Posted by MarkAlready it is a two-horse race, and a competition to see how many goals each can score every weekend - nothing more. Hardly a spectacle to promote the league as a whole.
If Sevilla cannot beat Real at home what hope is there for us to see a genuinely interesting title race? We might as well switch off until Real visit Barca at the end of November.
Only Real Madrid or Barcelona can win La Liga. The Premier League can be won by Manchester United, Chelsea or Liverpool, and with realistic challenges from Arsenal, Manchester City & Tottenham.
There is no denying that Barcelona & Real Madrid are strong teams and can compete, and are possibly better, than some of the best teams in England, but the competition in Spain is boring in comparison to the English Premier League.
- Posted by QI agree Mark - I love the way Spaniards play football, but the Barca-Real domination risks making the Liga resemble the Scottish championship.
- Posted by Paul VirgoThe word ‘boring’ is both misguided and incorrectly interpreted. If you’re saying La Liga is boring in terms of football quality, surely Italian football is more boring than Spain? It’s slow, uninspiring football has seen Italian football drop in popularity these past few years.
If you’re saying La Liga is boring because only Real and Barca seem to ever win it, that is like bemoaning beauty and quality because no-one else can match them. It appears you would rather watch the mainly poor, inconsistant majority rather than have a glimps of beauty and excellence, simply to make the competition more open. I would rather watch the minority play the game as it should be played rather than watch the majority stumble throughout the season with a lottery to see who luckily finishes on top.
The same is true of the EPL. We may have the same old Big Four but they all play reasonably beautiful football, especially Wenger’s Arsenal. The vast majority of the rest play dreadful football, with the exception of Spurs and Man City, two new pretenders to the title.
If I have the choice between watching the minority best and their predictable domination or the remaining majority who play poor football, I know what i’ll be watching - the Champions League! The rest are in the Europa League - very open so therefore ‘not boring’ - but who watches that…
- Posted by Nevil“Boring” La Liga. Sevilla dominated and outplayed Real Madrid on Sunday. After six games,
Barcelona has 18 points
Real Madrid has 15,
Sevilla 15
Unfancied Deportivo 12.
Two of last year’s Top 4, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla are in the relegation zone. That is how boring it is out there.
EPL winners since 1992:
1992-93 Manchester United
1993–94 Manchester United
1994–95 Blackburn Rovers
1995–96 Manchester United
1996–97 Manchester United
1997–98 Arsenal
1998–99 Manchester United
1999–2000 Manchester United
2000–01 Manchester United
2001–02 Arsenal
2002–03 Manchester United
2003–04 Arsenal
2004–05 Chelsea
2005–06 Chelsea
2006–07 Manchester United
2007–08 Manchester United
2008–09 Manchester United
La Liga winners since 1992:
1992-93 FC Barcelona
- Posted by African1993-94 FC Barcelona
1994-95 Real Madrid
1995-96 Atlético Madrid
1996-97 Real Madrid
1997-98 FC Barcelona
1998-99 FC Barcelona
1999-00 Deportivo de La Coruña
2000-01 Real Madrid
2001-02 Valencia CF
2002-03 Real Madrid
2003-04 Valencia CF
2004-05 FC Barcelona
2005-06 FC Barcelona
2006-07 Real Madrid
2007-08 Real Madrid
2008-09 FC Barcelona
Indeed, it is not surprising to see how the English press carry out their untiring efforts to project the EPL as against the rest, especially the La Liga.
Sevilla dominated and beat Real Madrid and Barca had a very tough time beating Almeira. Were they easy matches for the two EUROPEAN GIANTS? I doubt. The EPL sometimes have such moments like the Wigan-Chelsea duel, which makes the league competitive as well.
Above all, the dominance of Real Madrid and Barcelona in Spain is quite similar to the dominance of Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool in recent times. It is obvious that the dominance criterion used to backlash the La Liga equally victmizes the EPL as well.
I think they are both exciting in some sense and boring in another. We only have to enjoy them!!!
- Posted by For RealThe spanish league has some of the most technical football, however only have 2 great teams, as oppose to the EPL’s 4-6 good teams is what makes the difference… I personally don’t watch La Liga unless Real play Barca…But then I only watch the scottish premier league when Rangers play Celtic…good comparison? probably not for skill and technical ability, however in terms of the competitiveness of these 2 leagues you can’t deny the similarity.. EPL all the way..
- Posted by Xebo[...] bristling 2-1 victory over Real Madrid on Sunday offers hope that the answer to the question posed in Thursday’s blog is [...]
- Posted by Real look CR9 dependent as Sevilla heed cry for challengers - Posted In LA Liga | Soccer News Info - Soccer News InfoLa Liga is a million miles more entertaining than the English Premier League, and the reason is not hard to find. The basic standard of footballing competence among the English homegrown players is shockingly low. I’m talking about ground-level things, fundamentals of technique like first-touch, passing, ball-control. As for imagination, it seems almost unknown amoong the English players - although, to be fair, why develop a footballing imagination when you lack the technical basics to implement it?
And as for the fallacious “competitiveness” argument - in the last fourteen years, five different clubs have won La Liga. In that time, only three clubs have won the English league, and Man United account for NINE of those fourteen.
- Posted by Blake Williams