Local rivals: Madrid’s finest collide as Spain rules Europe

La Liga sides have dominated Champions League and Europa in recent times

KARACHI: On May 28, under blinding Milan lights, Messrs Gabi and Sergio Ramos will lead their sides out onto the hallowed grass of the Giuseppe Meazza. And when the referee signals the start of the 61st Champions League final, the thousands in the ground’s magical stands and the millions watching around the world will witness Madrid make history; for the second time.

Cross-town rivals Atletico and Real clash in the final for the second time in three years, and in doing so manage what no other European city has managed through the ages — have two of its clubs battle it out in the final.

Whatever the outcome, club football’s most prestigious trophy will be making the short 600-kilometre journey from Barcelona to Madrid. It knows the road well, having made the same journey the other way around last year when Barcelona defeated Juventus 3-1 in Berlin to follow up on Real’s La Decima from the year before.

For the third consecutive year, Europe’s biggest prize will stay in Spain. Its younger brother, the Europa League, continues to make itself increasingly comfortable in Sevilla’s trophy cabinet; where it has been staying for the past three years.



Real can win an incredible 11th Champions League title — La Undecima — or Atletico can claim their first. In doing so, Madrid will become Europe’s most successful city by crossing Milan’s mark of 10 titles. What more fitting place to do so then, than the San Siro itself — historic home of both AC and Inter; Milan’s two crown jewels.

Slowly but surely, La Liga has been stamping its authority on Europe since the turn of the century. Eight out of the 17 winners since 2000, including 2016’s, have been Spanish. The other nine have been shared among sides from England (three), Italy (three), Germany (two) and Portugal — giants in their own rights but reduced to fighting for the scraps once the beasts of Spain have had their fill.

Of the last 50 two-legged ties against foreign teams, Spanish sides have won a whopping 47. This year, Liverpool were the only side to knock a Spanish team out of Europe when they defeated Villareal in the Europa League semi-final. The other Spanish sides to be knocked out of Europe — Athletic Bilbao, Valencia and Barcelona — were all knocked out by teams from La Liga.

While the Premier League prides itself on being the world’s most watched league, its claim of being the world’s best no longer holds water. The Premier League’s fall from grace has been as swift as it has been emphatic. England has gone from the heady days of having three teams in the semi-finals just under a decade ago to having just two in the past four years. Those two — Chelsea in 2013-14 and Manchester City in 2015-16 — both lost to Spanish opponents Atletico and Real respectively.



The star power, also, lies firmly in the Spanish peninsula. All 15 Ballon d’Or winners since the turn of the century have plied their trade in La Liga at one point or the other. Real’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi have had a duopoly over the award ever since the FIFA Player of the Year and the European Ballon d’Or were combined to create the FIFA Ballon d’Or. 13 out of the 15 top-three finishes in these five years have been La Liga players. Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer and Franck Ribery are the only two players to have finished in the top three; both in third.

Leicester’s fairytale Premier League win is being celebrated by all sporting fans but — without taking anything away from the Foxes — the win is just as much an indictment to England’s traditional powers as it is a celebration of the Leicester’s incredible achievement.

The big five of Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal have all had underwhelming seasons. In La Liga, it is difficult to imagine Leicester triumphing ahead of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. In fact, if the Foxes went to La Liga with their 81 points, they would have finished seven points behind third-placed Atletico.



While many may feel this is due to the perceived lack of quality of the remaining teams in La Liga, Spain’s success in both European competitions shows that is not the case.

Even more worryingly so, Bayern and Juventus seem to be the only sides even remotely capable of challenging the Spanish triumvirate in the short term. None of England’s top four have ever won the competition and have only one final appearance between them; when Arsenal were defeated by Barcelona on a stormy Paris night exactly a decade ago.

Whatever the outcome of those fateful two hours in Milan may be — regardless of whether it is Gabi or Ramos who lifts the trophy, or whether Madrid is blanketed with the colours of Atletico or of Real — what is sure is that Spain has enjoyed complete European dominance in recent years. La Liga, as its name suggests, truly is The League.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 28^th, 2016.

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