The qualification of three English teams for the Champions League semi-finals has reignited the debate over whether the Premiership is the best league in the world.
WHEN the Premier League was first devised, it was cleverly marketed as the most entertaining league in the world.
This was partly to hide the fact that despite plenty of goals per game, in terms of winning football it was lagging significantly behind its Italian and Spanish counterparts.
It is no coincidence therefore that while the Premiership’s entertainment value has diminished recently, it will have produced three of this season’s four Champions League semi-finalists.
The six-year European ban handed out to English clubs in the wake of the Heysel disaster reduced them from the dominant force on the Continent to a second-rate nation.
Both tactically and in terms of being able to attract the world’s best playing and coaching talent — Manchester United aside — they were playing catch-up until Liverpool won the Champions League two years ago.
Initially dismissed as an anomaly, it is becoming clear that result may have heralded a new era of English superiority.
For the third straight season, it appears certain there will be an English team in the Champions League final — possibly two.
It was a situation Spanish sides found themselves in when, in 2000, the Primera Liga was undoubtedly the best league in the world.
Ironically, the Spanish top flight has now replaced the Premiership as the most entertaining league but results against English sides suggest it is they that now need to play catch-up in terms of quality.
For the most part, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Valencia have been outplayed and out-thought by the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea in recent times.
Yes, the Primera Liga may be more competitive, but so is the Coca-Cola Championship and no-one would argue it is superior to the Premiership.
LIVE attendance figures must surely paint the clearest picture and those for the English top flight remain in freefall, with an increasing number of clubs resorting to price cuts to bring the fans back.
Serie A and La Liga are streets ahead in terms of technique, quality and atmosphere on the pitch and in the grounds. Unfortunately much of the Premiership is bland, sterile and bereft of charisma, hence fans’ preference to sit at home and watch on television.
In terms of competition, Serie A has been reduced to a one-horse race following last season’s match-fixing scandal. And while in England we have an interesting title race between Manchester United and Chelsea, five teams remain in the Spanish title race with Sevilla, Real Madrid, Real Zaragoza and Valencia all chasing leaders and defending champions Barcelona.
While the English league provides cut-and-thrust excitement and Serie A is technically superior, La Liga combines both to produce the most entertaining and fabulous football in the world.
While Sevilla have topped the table frequently this season and are still firmly in the title race, it is inconceivable that a team of equivalent size — Everton, perhaps — would be able to maintain such a challenge in England.
England’s top four sides are superior to those of Italy and Spain but the remaining 16 teams represent glaring mediocrity.
The financial saturation has done more harm than good, with the money at stake making the sport increasingly results-orientated while TV paymasters wield more and more power.
Italy and Spain offer fans better football, more flair, more style, more atmosphere and without doubt, more value for money while Germany and Holland are more competitive, more modern but less sanitised.
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