So the Champions League is in the quarterfinal phase. PSV beat Arsenal 2-1 on aggregate which spoiled England clubs from securing four of the eight quarterfinal berths. Both Barcelona and Real Madrid were ousted and Valencia is the lone Spanish side alive.
Now, I don't know for sure but I don't think that necessarily means the English Premier League is better than La Liga. Over here on this side of the world, a lot is made of the relative strength of the league because of their clubs' results in international cup competitions.
I have mixed feelings about that myself. When DC United lost to Pumas 5-0 a few years back, I don't know that MLS was so far beneath the level of the Mexican league that its best team came away with such a terrible result. At the same time, there is something to be said about MLS clubs' horrendous results against Mexican teams in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. Of the last 11 series played between MLS and Mexican clubs, MLS has won once: KC-Santos a few years back. Otherwise, it's been all Mexico.
We'll see how the CONCACAF series play out (DC-Chivas, Houston-Pachuca) and what the SuperLiga brings but I know one thing: regardless of the results, people should not jump to any conclusions.
2 comments:
Until we get an MLS-MFL competition where both leagues are in-season and both care about winning it, we will not have a meaningful measuring stick between the two leagues. MLS has had an very good record against European opponents in the summer (Allstar win over Chelsea, DC demolition of Celtic, draw with Real Madrid...), yet no one jumps to conclusions that MLS teams belong in the Champions League final 16.
However, all everyone wants to talk about is MLS' abysmal record against Costa Rican and Mexican clubs. Just like we assign the Chelsea match with an asterisk, all MLS CCC results since the competition moved to early spring should have one as well.
Not saying that MLS is better than the Mexican first division (it's not), but the difference is hell of a lot closer than the CCC results indicate.
Coming back to the European side of things, because there is only one German club left represents an implied feeling that the Bundesliga is not as quality as the EPL, La Liga, Serie A, or League 1. There was an article I read a couple months back (after Werder Bremen was bounced from CL to UEFA Cup) that even said that the Bundesliga ranked below the Portuguese and Dutch leagues and therefore was due to have its number of CL slots cut down.
Anyways, I think that competitions such as UEFA CL, CONCACAF Champions Cup, and SuperLiga are interesting measuring sticks of league strength, provided that the leagues themselves are interested enough in giving the competition their best effort.
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