Tuesday, November 30, 2010
BARCELONA — Real Madrid is definitely the biggest match in Europe – and thus the world – and the Spanish won’t let anyone forget it.
"Which team is the best in the world?" blared Madrid sports paper Marca yesterday, as if the winner of last night’s Clasico were automatically to be crowned champions, and somehow overlooking the point that neither of them contested the Champions League final in May: one going out to the eventual winners and the other succumbing to the might of a side that finished as runners-up in France.
But in marketing terms there is no contest. Fifteen million viewers is a lot – and that was the estimated audience in the United States alone, according to ESPN.
No other foreign game would attract a full-page preview in Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport – and that was just on Saturday.
The Clasico is of course required viewing throughout Latin America, and Al Jazeera, based in Qatar, broadcast the match live to 22 countries, with a potential audience of 80million.
As for the audience in China and elsewhere in Asia, no one knows the true figure because of the number of internet feeds – but "vast" is the only word that will do. Last year Real Madrid even tried to persuade the Liga authorities to schedule the match early in the afternoon to grab the prime time slot on Chinese television.
The most glamorous setting, the biggest names, the largest audience, the biggest match, not to mention the largest media presence – 891 in total, although not all pf them in the Camp Nou press box you will be relieved to know.
But for all the ballyhoo, last night’s clash did not decide a world title, even if Spain are world and European champions.
The story this season, like last, is of two mega-rich clubs competing for a trophy that no one else has a chance of winning, Last season the gapbetween second and third in the Liga was 25 points. The points difference between the champions and the third-place side has averaged 21 points for the past three seasons.
For a real competition you have to go back as far as 2003/4 when Rafa Benitez’s Valencia side won the title and there were four genuine contenders. That season Barcelona and Real Madrid lost 18 matches between them: unimaginable today.
OK, so the Liga not very competitive, but surely Spain has the most exciting football?
Not if you look at the evidence. The number of goals scored doesn’t necessarily indicate the best games, of course, but it does reflect attacking play.
Thus far this season (excluding last night’s game) the Liga has averaged 2.72 goals per match, which is higher than countries such as Italy and Portugal (and Greece, which is bottom of this particular league) but slightly lower than the Premier League.
It’s a long way behind Germany’s Bundesliga, which is averaging 3.21 goals per match: 0.49 goals more than in Spain.
Half a goal is admittedly hard to visualise – it’s not like half the ball crossing the line – but it means that fans in Germany have seen 405 goals this season, compared to 351 in the "best league in the world".
Not just this year, either. Germany has been ahead of Spain for the past five seasons, although the two leagues were almost neck and neck three years ago. The Bundesliga generally sees more goals than most other major competitions, the exception being the Eredivisie in Holland where teams regularly average around three a game.
German football is thus at least as watchable as the Spanish variety, certainly as far as attacking play is concerned, and in terms of crowd and atmosphere there’s no comparison.
Barcelona and Real Madrid attract huge home support of course. But the average gate in Spain this season is just under 28,000 compared to more than 42,500 in Germany (to put it in context the Premier League is averaging 35,000 at the moment).
Financially there is also no comparison, even though German fans often pay less for their tickets. As you might expect Bundesliga clubs are generally financially sound – although that hasn’t always been the case – whereas at least half the clubs in La Liga are worried about being able to pay their players each month. Only a handful are secure, only two can be confident – and even Barcelona had to borrow €150 million last summer.
The glamour is evident, but like Spain’s economy it’s precarious.
© Examiner Publications (Cork) Limited, City Quarter, Lapps Quay, Cork. Registered in Ireland: 73385.
