Spain Giants Dominated by English Teams in 2019
As sports fands all know, everything come to an end, and that end came after Valencia was defeated by Arsenal a mere two days after Barcelona was defeated at Anfield by Liverpool. This makes it the first time in the last six years that a La Liga team will not be participating in a major European final to claim a trophy.
All English Finalist in Champions League and Europa League
Spain will provide the perfect venue for the Champions League final between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium in Madrid on 1 June 2019 where they will be competing for Europe’s most prestigious trophy.
However, it will not play host to any team from the Spanish league. England will provide all four teams in both the Europa League final, similar to Spain in 2012, and the Champions League final, same to Spain in 2014 and 2016. It’s not supposed to be like this, or perhaps it should be. Probably what was occurring before was not normal. Nonetheless, it’s very different, and no one can deny it.
There have only been two occasions (2013 and 2008) in the last 14 years where a Spanish team hasn’t been able to win either the Europa League or the Champions League. Barcelona and Madrid have managed to win the last 5 Champions Leagues, while Valencia, Atletico Madrid, and Sevilla have managed to win 9 of the previous 15 Europa Leagues/EUFA Cups. This year, all of them will be watching on television.
England Breaks Football Records
No other country has managed to produce all four finalists in the history of the European football tournaments. This leaves Spain to think about whether this is a one-off event or if this is going to happen again down the line.
If there’s a belief that Barcelona and Atletico Madrid will be back, following hundreds of millions worth of signings in euro’s – maybe including Eden Hazard, who managed to score the goal that allowed Chelsea to advance on Thursday evening – it does not entirely reduce the concern that this can be the start of a significant shift. Not because it should be, but because it’s just the reality of the situation. What’s even more remarkable is that Spanish clubs have managed to avoid it for so long.
On Thursday evening, Valencia lost against two strikers that are worth more than €100 million combined. Valencia is not a mediocre club, but they were unable to compete with the level they were playing against. Every English team, even the ones that are trolling around at the bottom of the leagues, can easily double Valencia’s budget or any other club within the Spanish league apart from Atletico, Barcelona, and Madrid.
The English Premier League has managed to surpass the Spanish League; there’s just no denying that. However, does this fuel the Spanish teams to improve on their overall game or are we going to see the English teams dominate each season going forward?