Has Barcelona’s Champions League semi-final proved that the Premier League is stronger than La Liga?
During major football competitions like the Champions League, people begin to question the overall strength of different leagues. While some leagues may have world class players, this alone does not make a successful team.
There’s no question that Barcelona have the most powerful attack in Europe…even the mention of Thierry Henry, Lionel Messi and Samuel Eto’o creates a sense of excitement and anticipation. This season, they appear to be cruising through La Liga matches with ease making it look so effortless for enthusiastic football fans watching at home. There’s no doubt that they have a team packed with elite and influential footballers, especially world class midfielders Xavi and Iniesta. On the pitch, they have more than satisfied us with their beautiful style of football that you can’t help to admire.
Yet when it comes to facing teams like Manchester United and Chelsea they seem to lose this essence of exciting football as the match proves to be a difficulty. Even though they successfully made into the Champions League final in Rome, they seemed to have struggled to book their place in the controversial second leg match against Chelsea. Suddenly the likes of Messi and Eto’o fade away as they fight to break the defence. Is it simply because of the differing style of football? Or is the Premier League really just stronger than La Liga? In fact, this year all three major Premier League teams (Chelsea, Arsenal and Man United) made it to the semi-final of the Champions League. The contrasting football styles proved to have a huge impact on both legs of the semi final with Chelsea taking on Barcelona. Against Real Madrid, they sent a powerful 6-2 warning to Chelsea proving they will not go down easily. However, In front of the intimidating Stamford Bridge audience, Messi and Eto’o seem to freeze up on the pitch against the defensive tactics of Guus Hiddink causing us to question their true abilities. Having no shots on target with nearly eight Chelsea defenders denying Barca’s access to the penalty area, the match proved to be a disappointing performance from Pep’s players. In the last few tense minutes of the match, it seemed that Pep’s team had to rely on luck as Iniesta struck his unpredictable powerful shot into the top corner of the net.
So, has Barcelona continuously failed to confidently beat Premier League teams? Well from the last few Champions League season winners, the answer to this question is definitely a no. With only three Premier League clubs lifting the cup in the last ten years can English football fans really say that they have the best league in Europe?
