Real Madrid’s goalkeeper Iker Casillas shakes hands with FC Barcelona’s Lionel Messi from Argentina, left, during a Spanish La Liga soccer match at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Oct. 7, 2012. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
(Opinion) When one thinks of La Liga they think of the gorgeous style of FC Barcelona or the free scoring Real Madrid. Over the past 10 years La Liga has produced some of the best players that the game has ever seen. Because of Barcelona’s youth system and the deep pockets of Real Madrid, La Liga has produced some incredible teams.
That being said the rest of the league is suffering due to the dominance of both clubs. Players for the lower clubs are making their way to Italy or England for a chance to win trophies. Thanks to the Barcelona revolution, La Liga has become the most popular league on the planet. The success of the Catalans is a double-edged sword because the more Barcelona and Real win the less money the rest of the league receives.
Trying to compete with the best
If you do not play for either Barcelona or Real Madrid then there is no chance that your team will lift the league trophy at the end of the season. It has been eight years since La Liga had a winner that was not Barcelona or Real Madrid. The league has become so top heavy that other competitive clubs are selling their top players so that they can compete with the big spenders.
At one point Valencia was considered a legitimate title threat but thanks to the increasing disparity between the top two clubs, Valencia was forced to sell three influential players—players who sought silverware. Valencia sold off David Silva, David Villa, and Juan Mata in order to generate enough money to stay competitive in the transfer market.
Santi Cazorla left Malaga because he wanted to win trophies and he knew all too well that he couldn’t break into the Barca or Real midfield. This forced him to look to other leagues and Arsenal snatched him up as soon as they could. This Spanish soccer “brain drain” is going to cripple the league at some point because we are starting to see the exodus of an entire generation of talented young Spanish players.
The EPL has already reaped significant rewards from this situation (Mata, Torres, Silva, Aguero, Reina, De Gea and Cazorla have been smashing successes at their English clubs). These talented players see the dominance of the Clasico pair and they believe that the only way they can win trophies is to play in another league. Real and Barca are winning but the rest of the league and fans are suffering in the end.
In terms of television revenue Barcelona and Real Madrid take more than half of the €600 million that is brought in during the year. Other clubs have become furious over the fact that two clubs take over 50 percent of the television rights while some clubs are fighting to stay out of administration. The owners of the Spanish clubs are trying to broker a deal with the Spanish FA that would allow the money to be more evenly dispersed among the clubs. Naturally, Real and Barca are trying to stall the deal.
Barcelona, Real Madrid are simply the best
This past season Barcelona stuttered away from home with five draws and two losses but were still a massive 30 points above third place Valencia. Barca finished with 91 points while Real finished with an amazing 100 points to capture the title. However, Valencia and Malaga who rounded out the top four scored 50 less goals and conceded 15 more than either of the top two. It is absolutely frightening to look at the La Liga table and see a 30 point gap between second and third place. No wonder some players would want to play elsewhere because they know it’s futile to compete with the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid.
So what can be done? How do we level the playing field without forcing the power away from Real and Barca? Money is power in La Liga and Real and Barca have almost all of it. Perhaps the easiest way would be to have Spanish FA allocate the television funds more evenly than in previous years. Cut the television revenue that the league gives to Barca and Real by 20 percent and distribute that money among the clubs that are in dire situations.
Over the past five years Real Zaragoza, Real Betis and Racing Santander have all fallen into administration and these clubs were once competitive in the league but now are fighting for their lives. This money could be the lifelines that clubs were hoping for and that could keep Spanish talent in Spain. Truthfully, it seems very unlikely because Real and Barca would seriously object to the idea.
There is no easy fix to this current financial mess that the La Liga officials find themselves in. The league has to look at the proof and see that the clasico pair is crushing the league from above. Their enormous wage bills, massive debts and television monopoly are driving out the most promising talents in Spain. Unfortunately, everyone outside of Spain will reap the benefits while the league suffers.
Read more: http://www.voxxi.com/fc-barcelona-real-madrid-crushing-liga/#ixzz29nlmbD3A
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