These are three reasons LaLiga teams have enjoyed a period of prolonged domination in European football.
Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid squared up in the final of the European Super Cup on Wednesday night. This match signified not only a notion, but a reality that La Liga is now the new capital of European football dominance.
The all-Madrid UEFA SuperCup match marked the third time in four years that the two LaLiga giants have competed against each other on the European heavyweight stage. Spain's thirst for trophies with seven Champions League wins, seven Europa League wins, and three other runs to the final in the past 10 years in European competitions, has meant a number of Spanish clubs now know how to handle the eccentricities of European ties and how to balance those commitments with keeping their LaLiga campaigns on track at the same time.
Before last night’s match up, and as the statistics kept growing, teams from Spain had won a whopping 19 out of the last 20 European trophies available in the last 5 years, and victory for Atletico last night even further extended that record to 20 out of 21 possible European trophies.
Spanish teams have become the staple of European football, with Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla making history year in year out, redefining the standard of play, developing young new talents, and boasting two of the best players in the world for over a decade.
As the new LaLiga season swings into action, we are analysing three reasons why LaLiga teams have enjoyed a period of prolonged domination in European football.
No longer just a two-horse race
For long periods, there was a Barcelona and Real Madrid duopoly in LaLiga and their successes were understandable as the two teams had enough financial clout and history to attract and outspend other teams both locally, and on the European stage. That duopoly was however broken by Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid side, who combined a mix of defensive cohesion, team spirit, doggedness and raw strength.
Since their Radamel Falcao led Europa League victory, and Diego Costa inspired league wins, Atletico have now become a household name on the European stage – by getting to two Champions League finals in 2014, and 2016 respectively, and winning the Europa League in 2018. In between these three teams, players have moved through and joined other LaLiga teams making them stronger and even more competitive. Last season for example, Valencia led the charge for teams competing with the top teams, pushing the usual three to the tail end of the season. The quality all over the league is so wide that a mid-level team in LaLiga can outplay and outclass top level teams in other top leagues.
Once upon a time, teams were rated on how much they could spend in the transfer market, now it is about the quality available, and the young talents rising through the team.
Local talent – global diversity
If we analyse the success of the Spanish sides who have won trophies in recent years, you’d realise that there has been a reliance on a core group of homegrown players. The quota for non EU players in LaLiga is three, therefore teams can focus on grooming young talents in tactical movement, coordination and cohesion. An example is the first Barcelona team built by Pep Guardiola in 2009, the team had a mix of La Masia talents blended with global stars. The same can be said for Simeone’s title winning squads and Unai Emery’s high pressing Sevilla side. Xavi, Andreas Iniesta, Sergio Ramos, Xabi Alonso and Lionel Messi all form a strong core of homegrown talents in the league, showing that Spanish teams work very hard at academy level in order to grow young talent - while fostering a spirit of unity that is often lacking when other teams spend large sums on superstar talents from around the world.
Best coaches in the World
When you think about Spanish football, you can’t help but imagine short passes in tiny little spaces, near perfect movements and triangles that seem to be replayed over and over from the training pitch.
The dominance of Spanish football correlates with the rise of "tiki-taka", a short passing style commonly associated with Barcelona and the La Roja. "tiki-taka", took center stage during an era when teams were bent on wing play and pragmatic approach. It was led by the concept of having forward thinking coaches who were willing to experiment and break boundaries.
Thanks to the increased number of homegrown coaches, LaLiga has witnessed the emergence of renowned managers such as Pep Guardiola, treble consecutive Champions League winning manager Zinedine Zidane, back to back Europa League winner Unai Emery, the norm breakers Diego Simeone, Ernesto Valverde, and Marcelino García Toral. Currently, there are 16 home grown Spanish coaches and 4 Argentine coaches in LaLiga (all of whom played in LaLiga).
The tactical variety of a number of skilled coaches has worked well for Spanish teams in European competition. From rock-solid defensive structures that have stifled Europe's best, to being the kings of the set-pieces, possession play and counter attacking football, Spanish sides have become totally unpredictable to most of their European rivals.
As the new LaLiga season draws even closer, the world lies in wait for what the LaLiga teams have to offer on the European stage this season. It is fair to say that LaLiga teams are already firm favorites to win the trophies on the European stage, before the season has even started. This is testament to the sheer dominance of LaLiga teams in Europe over the past few years. Even without Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid will be confident of retaining the world’s biggest club competition, the Champions League for an unprecedented fourth consecutive year.