#4 Competitive
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‘La Liga is not as competitive as the Premier League.’
This is a myth – there are no two ways about it. Even since the Premier League began in 1992, there have been 6 winners, including Leicester’s shock title victory last season. In that same period, La Liga have experienced 5 winners – hardly the two-man race between Barcelona and Real Madrid most people consider it to be, with Sevilla and Atletico Madrid now making title challenges. At the very least, La Liga is as competitive as the Premier League.
The argument is made that Barcelona and Real Madrid routinely thrash minnows by large scorelines. It is true, but only on paper. Barcelona thrashed Leganes 5-1 away early in the season, but anyone who saw that game witnessed that the Liga debutants spurned plenty of great chances to score. The return fixture saw Leganes trouble Barcelona yet again, with the Catalans lucky to escape with a 2-1 win thanks to a dubious penalty call.
Even the teams Real Madrid’s record-breaking side dropped points against – Eibar and Las Palmas – are hardly what you would describe as giants. Clubs like Eibar are plentiful in La Liga – a small club with limited financial resouces dwarfed by those of Sunderland and Crystal Palace, but make up for it with excellent scouting, and great development of young talent. It would be interesting to see how the likes of Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal would fare at the 7000-seater Ipurua – it would not be a rout as many expect.
