Back in the days when England’s footballers spent as much time in the pub as they did on the pitch, when football shorts the world over were tight enough to cut off circulation to the legs and it was quite normal for top-class players to sport facial hair, every four years something remarkable used to happen for football fans.

The World Cup brought with it an escape from terrible pitches and a chance to see the very best the world had to offer. Moments of genius from exciting new players wowed the viewing public. Players sprung into the consciousness of nations overnight.

Within hours they could take on a godlike status and like mythical characters, their reputation seemed to only increase during the four years away from the spotlight between World Cups.

These days even the best players struggle to achieve such a high standing. Every comment is reported, every bad performance or run of bad form is scrutinized.

A reputation can still be made in a World Cup tournament but just as easily it can ripped to pieces in the intervening four years.

The Champions League now provides the true litmus test for world football’s finest. European cup glory may never hold the stature of winning a World Cup, perhaps even in the minds of the players themselves it will never tug the heart strings the same way achieving something for you country can, but in terms of quality it is light years ahead.

Can International football really compete with club football? With limited time to prepare, narrow selection criteria and such large breaks between playing quality opposition can an international team of the same standard of an elite club side even be assembled?

Europe’s big clubs are now almost limitless in their powers. Every squad competing in the Champions Leagues is bursting with football talent harvested from every corner of the globe. Players you might have seen every four years in the past can now be seen week in week out in Europe’s big leagues. This year’s Manchester United-Barcelona final is much more than just an intercity rivalry.

Nationals of Brazil, Argentina, France, Portugal, Serbia, Bulgaria, South Korea, Cameroon, Uruguay, Mali, Belarus, Iceland, The Netherlands will all be in attendance alongside the native British and Spanish players providing an interest around the world that spills well over Europe’s borders.

No dead weight will be taking to the pitch in Rome. Every player will be there by virtue of their talent. International managers may have to play with the cards that the gods of genetics dealt them, but managers at the highest level of European club football have already rigged the pack.

Players who have competed at the highest echelons of club football have been a glaring omission at World Cup finals. Ryan Giggs and George Weah’s absences in recent years stand in stark comparison to the memory of Costa Rica’s Paulo Wanchope or Trinidad and Tobago’s Dwight Yorke lining up alongside their football nobody countrymen.

Similarly, the World Cup has produced more and more mismatches as the years have gone by.

Who can forget Scotland’s Colin Hendry hopelessly trying to stop Brazil’s Phenomenon in the opening game of France 98? Or Luca Toni against nearly every defense he’s come up against?

The World Cup can no longer be considered the greatest test. It’s without doubt still the world’s premier sporting spectacle, but the highest quality of football is now played at the highest professional level. It transcends borders and tribal allegiances.

Come May 27, Rome’s Stadio Olimpico will be hosting what should be the highest quality game of football to date. Barcelona and Manchester United‘s teams have been works in progress for years.

Having been brought together from the four corners of the earth, they have been refined and finely tuned everyday on the training ground. The result is two teams whose football ability stands head and shoulder above everyone around them.

This year’s Champions League Final will be more than a normal game. It will be the culmination of over a century of football evolution. As it is every year. May the best team win.

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