Guys there's more to comparing the leagues than just Champions League. There's the Europa League as well, not to mention you can't measure a league's quality only by its top 3-4 teams or even its performances in said competitions necessarily. Until the 09-10 season, the Prem had the same big 4 pretty much every single year. They were very strong teams and the PL fans would cite them as evidence of the Prem's superiority, but there was a lack of competitiveness in the league since the other 16 weren't very good. La Liga may have been slightly worse in the Champions League but you had different teams in the top 4 every season, and from top to bottom it was stronger in the 00's.
The past two seasons though has seen the rise of Tottenham and ManCity and the demise of Liverpool, so there are 5 very good teams in England. In Spain, the past two seasons the stronger teams other than R. Madrid and Barca have all had problems (finances playing a big part) and have struggled. That's why I give the slight edge to the Prem right now. But the two leagues are very close and it's really annoying to hear the constant claims of the Prem's superiority and La Liga being like the SPL. PL fans conveniently forget that in 08-09, La Liga had 6 Champions League caliber teams. The worst of those teams, Villarreal, played ManU twice in the CL that season and equalled them...there was absolutely nothing separating the sides in both of those games. While that ManU team was considered one of the best teams in history, that Villarreal team finished in 6TH PLACE in La Liga that year.
Anyways, there's more to it than performance in these competitions, of course because the strength of the league is determined by 20 of its teams, not 4 or 7, but also because certain leagues' style of play favors them in these competitions. IMO the Prem's and Serie A's styles of play make them very well suited for the Champions League, especially in the knockout rounds, while La Liga's, the Bundesliga's, and the Eredevisie's styles of play put them at a disadvantage. That doesn't necessarily mean they are much worse just because they aren't quite as good in the CL. I think Ligue 1's style of play fits them fine for the CL, and I have no idea why French teams historically have failed so much in European competitions.
Way off topic though. I thought Tottenham played like **** in the second half and Crouch is a complete buffoon. Totally let down his team. I wonder what lineups the two teams will use in the next leg. I'm not sure how much of this game was R. Madrid playing well and Tottenham being completely unable to control the ball for more than 3 seconds. I have no idea what will happen in the next round. My head says that R. Madrid can't beat Barca, that there's no way a Spanish side can play attacking football and beat them. Teams like Chelsea, ManU, and to a lesser extent, Inter, are the ones well suited to beat Barca, and that's why if the final is ManU vs. Barca, ManU will win. My gut says though that R. Madrid are the much more motivated team after their last Barca game, and Barca is probably getting complacent since they've won so much recently, and of course I think overconfidence will be a huge problem. And of course that Mourinho will find a way to beat them. I think their next match, on April 16th, will have a big impact. If R. Madrid draws or wins, it will give them confidence, although maybe it would motivate Barca more and humble them a bit. If Barca wins, especially if it's by a lot, it might destroy R. Madrid's confidence. On the other hand, it just might motivate them more and contribute to Barca's overconfidence. It would also give Mourinho another chance to figure out what he did wrong. So I guess I have no idea what will happen and it should be very entertaining. Since the odds though will favor Barca, I'll probably put a value bet on Real.
