Premier League vs. La Liga; Who Will Reign Supreme In Europe?

Even the harshest critic of English football, would be hard pressed to argue against the dominance displayed by the Premiership teams in recent European competitions.

As the pinnacle of European club football, the Champions League is a suitable means of proving the dominance of English clubs.  In the 2008/2009 season, three of the four semifinalists were from England, with Arsenal and Manchester United contesting one semifinal, and Chelsea and Barcelona the other.

Barcelona eventually triumphed against Manchester United in the 2009 final, however this somewhat glossed over the relative failure of the rest of the Spanish sides, and teams from other great footballing nations such as Italy, in the most recent competition.

The starkest decline, it has to be said, has been in the quality of the top Italian sides. Internazionale, Juventus and Roma were all eliminated in the first knockout round of the competition, and perhaps most importantly, they were all knocked out by English teams; Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal respectively.

It is clear that English football has seen a very rapid resurgence in the last few years, however, could Barcelona winning the 2009 competition, and Real Madrid seeing such large scale investment with Florentino Perez at the helm, spark a period of Spanish dominance in the European game?

Now seems like a good time to assess how this seasons Champions League is progressing, as we are three games in, and the groups are beginning to take shape.  Match day three of the group stages was perhaps one of the most surprising in recent history, with Russian newcomers Rubin Kazan defeating Barcelona 2-1 at the Camp Nou; a result that has certainly shaken European football.

Just as surprising in many respects was AC Milan leaving the Santiago Bernabéu with three points to take them to the top of Group C.  The result has led many people to question just how strong Real Madrid’s Champions League credentials are, particularly when they are forced to field a team without their principal Galactico, Cristiano Ronaldo. 

English clubs, barring Liverpool, are following a very familiar Champions League path at the moment, with Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea all sitting pretty at the top of their respective groups.  Each of these three teams is surely only one victory away from the knockout stages of the competition now, where you would expect at least United and Chelsea to reach the semifinals as a minimum.

The debate between English and Spanish clubs seems to have become clearer this week, with complacent displays from Barcelona and Real Madrid, not to mention an implosion from Athletico Madrid, albeit at the hands of Chelsea.  Sevilla were the only side sparing Spanish blushes this week, and the English sides once again appear to be effortlessly cruising towards more European success. 

There is no doubting the quality of Barcelona, and the potential of Real Madrid, however, as Rubin Kazan demonstrated this week, even the mightiest of European clubs can be caught off guard.  One does, however, get the impression that the English heavyweights Manchester United, Chelsea, and Arsenal, will not display the kind of carelessness seen in Barcelona any time soon.