Champions League is Back: Can Spanish Football Come Back to Life?

Photo Courtesy of Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images

By Adriana Leyba

Many argue that ten years ago La Liga was in direct competition with the Premier League for the spot of the best league in the world. Today, that argument would cause controversy across many football pubs. With the start of the Champions League, Spanish teams will get a chance to reestablish themselves across Europe once again. 

This argument might seem silly because Spanish teams do not need to prove their dominance in Europe… they already have it. Real Madrid have won five Champions League in the last 10 years, while Sevilla is the team with the most Europa League titles in history. Nevertheless, La Liga’s image has taken a hit in the last few years. 

This is due to several reasons, but the most obvious ones are the departures of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Both players alone brought millions of spectators and were the image of the league. Apart from that, the fact that they were in direct competition with each other (because they both played for rivals,) gave the competition some type of spice.

When Cristiano left, Real Madrid were not the only ones left with a void to fill- but so was La Liga. One of the league’s most important teams lost their most important player. As a response, young Vinicius was asked to step up and take a leading role in the team. Today he is one of the main personalities playing in La Liga. However, his marketing is nowhere near Cristiano’s. The same thing happened when Messi left Barcelona not long after. Both players were the image of the competition; today there is not a clear referent as to who is the face of La Liga.

Both players’ departure not only affected the quality of the league, but also the financials. This is specifically true when looking at Barcelona’s situation. Bad salary planning alongside the pandemic exacerbated the club’s troubles. 

Even though La Liga president Javier Tebas claims that the departure of Ronaldo and Messi did not cost the league a lot of money, it is difficult to think of the competition to be as famous as it was. La Liga needs to restore itself as a European powerhouse.

In the Champions League, Real Madrid and Barcelona are believed to be the biggest Spanish contenders. Even though that is true, the audience should pay closer attention to the performance of Atletico Madrid, Sevilla, and Real Sociedad. It is up to these teams to restore Spanish dominance. 

There is not much to be said about Atletico de Madrid, since they are not new to the competition. El Cholo Simeone and Griezmann’s leadership have taken the team far in the past, now the question is if they can actually attain more? Because of their established presence, many clubs will write them off as no more than a semi-difficult rival. However, Atleti’s strong defense and counter-focused attack can surprise many this season.

In their first game, Atletico only managed to get a draw with Lazio’s goalkeeper Ivan Provedel scoring a 95th minute equalizer. Even though it was a hard hit, the team went on to prove the danger in their style of play this past weekend against Real Madrid. Los Blancos dominated possession and approached goal several times but could not penetrate the defensive line of five designed by Simeone. 

On the other hand, Sevilla joined the Champions League as Europa League winners, making them the fifth Spanish team on the block. Aside from their undeniable success in the Europa League, it seems like Sevilla is undervalued in the Champions. It comes as no surprise since the team’s main victories come from outside the competition. With Sergio Ramos coming back, expectations are high. His experience and credentials in the Champions League weigh a lot.

Lens managed to get a draw out of Sevilla who attacked constantly throughout the game. If the team plans on succeeding in the Champions they have to find better luck when approaching their opponent’s goal. Many good things can be taken out of that game, however, like Sevilla’s high intensity and thirst for victory. It will be interesting to see the team’s performance against Premier League’s Arsenal to actually measure their quality. 

Lastly, Real Sociedad is my number one contender to surprise everyone this season. The team from San Sebastian has not made a Champions League appearance in ten years, but have come in playing like veterans. Young talent Takefusa Kubo has proven himself in La Liga gathering four goals and one assist this season alone. Under the management of Imanol Alguacil, La Real has achieved a lot of success in the domestic league and competed head to head with teams such as Real Madrid and Barcelona. 

Their first game was against last season’s Champions League finalists Inter Milan. Real Sociedad proved their quality by scoring first and controlling most of the game. However, Inter’s offensive quality is undeniable and they managed to tie the score in the second half. Nevertheless, the Spanish Team’s impressive performance left the audience with a good aftertaste.

Even though apart from Barcelona and Real Madrid no Spanish team managed to get three points; it is up to them to prove to European audiences that La Liga is worth watching beyond the top two.