The most competitive league in the world

Most stats in the book show La Liga has the best teams in Europe and, by extension, the world. The most successful club in the UEFA Champions League is Real Madrid, a La Liga team, which is also the most successful club in the FIFA Club World Cup. The most successful team in the second tier UEFA club competition, the UEFA Europa League, is Sevilla FC, another La Liga team. The most successful club in the UEFA Super Cup is Barcelona—Barca for short— (joint top with AC Milan), yet another La Liga team. La Liga teams have won the most combined FIFA Club World Cups, UEFA Super Cups, UEFA Champions League titles and UEFA Europa League titles. Barca and Madrid at 91 each are the most successful clubs in Europe in terms of number of trophies won. La Liga players have won the most Ballon d'Ors. To mention but a few. The stats indeed put La Liga teams way ahead of other leagues’ teams. It will, therefore, not be a surprise if after a decade or two of the new third tier UEFA club competition, the UEFA Europa Conference League, La Liga clubs emerge the most successful.

Nevertheless, many football fans argue that these facts only mean Spain has the best teams in the world and not necessarily the best or most competitive league in the world. In fact, most of these fans say the Premier League is the most competitive league in the world, especially as it has the biggest viewership. In my modest opinion, this is because they have not truly witnessed La Liga.  And what better way to witness it than through the fans, especially of teams other than the big two. Let’s take Atletico Madrid, or Atleti as they’re fondly called, this season’s champions in waiting, for instance. The last match day of the La Liga season is drawing closer. It will determine the winner between table leaders, Atleti, and their city rivals, Real Madrid. Apart from France’s Ligue 1, every other European top-five league has been won. La Liga, recently, is hardly ever determined before the last two match days. This, of course, is an indication of elite competitiveness. In this write-up, I tell the story of La Liga’s unrivalled competitiveness by briefly narrating the games that have brought Atleti closer to their second La Liga title in seven years. First, we will look at how their fans followed their 36th match of the season, the so-called 'most crucial game' in the run in. We will then conclude by reviewing their 37th, which was won by a hair’s breadth and ultimately proved every game in La Liga is equally crucial.

Before Match Day 36 against Real Sociedad, Atleti’s local fans mostly respected the empty-stadium rule imposed on La Liga matches due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But this match against Sociedad was their make or break match. The most zealous ones could not just sit at home and watch. They wanted to contribute their quota to the title challenge. They wanted their team to know they were not left alone in the fight. They, thus, defied the empty-stadium rule to make their players feel their presence. Well, almost defied. They did not enter the stadium but converged just outside of it, at such a strategic location that the players could hear their screams live and direct and not through some virtual audio system.

As stated above, you need to witness La Liga to know it is the most competitive league in the world. This match between Atleti, the champions in waiting and Real Sociedad, a fierce rival of some sort, was a microcosm of what La Liga looks like. The teams are so strong and competitive that only small details, like whose fans scream more, determine matches.

To expatiate on this with our example, Atleti despite leading 2-0 for most of the match eventually conceded a late goal, setting the match up for a frenetic finish. For seven long minutes, they suffered the onslaught of the goal-motivated Sociedad players. They literally defended with their lives and hardly ever had a moment to catch their breath. Everyone asscociated with Atleti was scared beyond words. In Sid Lowe’s words, paraphrased, ‘every action was a threat’. But Atleti players kept defending as if their lives depended on it. Yet, it seemed as if this was not enough. Thus, as both the players and the coach would admit after the game, hearing the shouts, screams and singing of their anthem from the fans just outside the stadium gave them the much-needed extra-strength to get over the line. The captain, Koke, for instance, effusively highlighted the role of the fans during his after-game presser. Then, the coach, Simeone, applauded them too and lamented the fact that fans were still not allowed in the stadiums due to the current regulations. This is how much the presence of the fans means to football in La Liga.

Now, fast-forward to Match Day 37. Osasuna. A team considered to be a much less opposition than Real Sociedad, and Barcelona before them. Atleti playing again at home were considered by many bookmakers to be going for an easy win. Yet, it was anything but easy. By the 74th minute, the match was headed for a disappointing 0-0 draw. In concurrent matches involving other title-contenders, Madrid were leading 1-0 away to Bilbao, Barca were drawing 1-1 at home to Celta and Sevilla were losing away to Villareal by a margin of more than two goals with no sign of staging a comeback. (Barca would later concede a late goal, losing the match 2-1 and, like Sevilla who lost 4-0, bidding goodbye to this season’s La Liga title.) This meant Madrid, tied on 81 points with Atleti, were leading the table by virtue of their superior head-to-head, another rule in La Liga that makes it more competitive than, say, the Premier League, which uses the goal-difference rule. (In perspective, Atleti with the best defence in the league were two goals better than Madrid.) Atleti could simply not let the game finish like this. Consequently, they committed more players forward and that’s when the unimaginable happened. Osasuna caught them on the counter in the 75th minute, leading to Ante Budimir powering a ferocious header into Atleti’s goal. Oblak unbelievably kept it out or so it seemed until VAR ruled the ball had crossed the line. 1-0 to Osasuna! Atleti’s title hopes were fading before their very eyes, having led the table by more 10 points at some point around the middle of the season. Now, they were not just behind Madrid by virtue of the head-to-head rule, they were behind them by a point. It was a ‘now or never’ moment for them. A draw was not good enough. They needed two goals. And they responded like the champions they intend to become. Two goals from Lodi and Suarez in the last eight minutes of the game restored them to the top of the table, dealing a big blow to Real Madrid who were looking to snatch the league from their city rivals at the eleventh hour. Interestingly, they can still do that on the last day if Atleti fail to win away to relegation-battling Valladolid and they win at home to Europa League finalists, Villareal, who need a win to secure a Europa League spot, providing any of Betis and Sociedad drop points. Hence, with the level of competition in La Liga, it is difficult to say who the champions will be, even with one game remaining and two points between the remaining title contenders. The only certainty is one of the two big teams in Spain’s capital will be crowned champions on the night of 22nd May, 2021! As many commentators like to say, 'this league is going to the wire.'

Lastly, this article will not be complete if we don’t make reference to the 2013/2014 season, which Atleti won on the last day of the season, away to the other remaining title contender, Barca. A win for Barca would crown them champions based on the head-to-head rule, having drawn the game at Atleti’s then home grown, the Calderon. Barca took the lead in the first half only for Atleti to fight back in the second and get the equaliser that crowned them champions. (Barca did score again in the second half through Lionel Messi but the goal was wrongly ruled out for offside by referee Mateu Lahoz, who is reported to have later apologised to the Barca team for the error—one of the incidents that birthed the VAR.) This season is poised in a similar manner with Madrid only two points behind Atleti. The difference is they will not be playing against each other. But with La Liga being the most competitive league in the world by a long stretch, it will be no less a difficult title-challenging last match day for either team. 22nd May, 2021 can’t come any faster!