A power shift to La Liga?

A MID the chorus of voices passing judgment on Cristiano Ronaldo’s decision to swap Manchester for Madrid yesterday, one was conspicuous by its absence.

Michel Platini may have chosen to keep his counsel on the close season’s most startling transfer to date, but his reaction is easy enough to second-guess. The Uefa president has never bothered to disguise his contempt for the brazen way in which the Premier League has taken club football in an economic choke-hold in recent years so Real Madrid’s decision to challenge England’s cash-rich elite and flex their own well-moneyed muscles will surely have prompted purrs of pleasure in Nyon.

Platini’s mood could become even sunnier as the summer wears on. It might be too soon to declare that Spain has reasserted itself as Europe’s footballing stronghold but the indications are that the balance of power could be tipping back towards Iberia.