Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham dribbling past Manchester City defender Abdukodir Khusanov. Photo courtesy of Ok Diario.
MARIA CLARA KOLLER | STAFF REPORTER | mkollerfernandez@butler.edu
There has been much debate as to which soccer league is the best in the world. Although rankings such as the UEFA coefficient list leagues based on the performance of their teams, there is so much more to making a league the best than just the success of its clubs. That being said, here are the reasons why each league should or should not be considered the best in the world.
Premier League
For a while now, the English Premier League has been considered as one of the best leagues in the world because it is home to some of the highest quality of teams and players in the game.
Three of the last six Champions League winners have come from the Premier League, while 10 out of the 30 players on the Ballon d’Or shortlist — the list for the most prestigious individual award — play for an English team. Teams such as Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea excelled in the past couple of seasons with big names such as Manchester City striker Erling Haaland, Manchester City midfielder Rodri, Liverpool winger Mohamed Salah and Chelsea striker Cole Palmer becoming some of the biggest names in soccer.
Apart from Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea, which receive most of the media’s attention, the rest of the league is still very competitive. According to Opta Analytics, teams in the Premier League have scored an average team rating of 87.9 on a scale of zero to 100, with no team being rated worse than 80. This makes the Premier League statistically one of the most competitive leagues in the world.
Martine Cardichon, senior engineering major and Aston Villa fan, spoke on what makes the Premier League the best in the world.
“It’s been exciting to see smaller clubs move towards promotion unexpectedly, even if they don’t necessarily win the league,” Cardichon said. “I think it’s the variability and the passion that make the Premier League, in my opinion, the best league to watch.”
Another distinguishing factor is the Premier League’s revenue. Not only is the quality of the league present through its players, teams and infrastructure, but also through its marketing. The Premier League’s worldwide exposure has increased its fanbase, making it one of the most watched and marketable leagues in the world.
Although the Premier League has established itself as the leader among the world’s top five leagues, this year has seen the scales change. Although there will be a new English champion for the first time in five years, Liverpool winning will mean that no other English team outside of Manchester City and Liverpool has captured the Premier League since 2017.
Another issue is that Manchester City and Liverpool, the two best English teams in the last couple of years, were eliminated before reaching the Round of 16 of the Champions League. The only English teams remaining are Arsenal, which has not won the league since 2004, and Aston Villa, which returns to the Champions League for the first time in decades.
European success is the bar for success. Although there are many layers to European soccer — Champions League, Europa League, Conference League — the lack of success at the highest level — the Champions League — is not an option for a league that looks to be the best in the world.
LaLiga
The race for the best league in world soccer is clearly between LaLiga and the Premier League. The Spanish league has the most exciting title race among the four top leagues. The top four teams, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao are within eight points of each other, with fierce rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid tied on 60 points.
Senior international studies major Alan Vance spoke on what makes LaLiga the best in the world.
“I think the best league in the world is the Spanish league,” Vance said. “It is the most entertaining to watch, their teams tend to do really good in European competitions. [Also] it has the most mediatic game of the world, which is El Clásico.”
LaLiga’s quality is not only found in the teams, but rather in the players too. Nine out of the 30 players nominated for the Ballon d’Or currently play in LaLiga, while Spain won the European Championship last summer with 19 LaLiga players out of the 26-man roster. Currently, the Spanish league is home to some of the best young talent in the world; the likes of Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal, Athletic Bilbao winger Nico Williams and Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham.
Vance discussed how Manchester City’s dominance discredits the Premier League and makes LaLiga better.
“Although people might usually say that the Premier League is more competitive,” Vance said. “I think I disagree, since Manchester City won five of the last six, and many of them were not even that close, meaning they knew who the champions were many matches before due to the huge point difference.”
However, LaLiga has not been able to compete with the revenue generated by the Premier League. According to the Guardian, “The median revenue for a Premier League club stood … more than three times those in Serie A and LaLiga.” Premier League clubs reported revenue of 7.1 billion euros while La Liga clubs brought in 3.6 billion euros.
LaLiga’s inability to keep up with the Premier League might prove to be costly in the future. Although it can be argued that they have the better teams and players, inevitably, that won’t matter if they do not get the same exposure as Premier League teams.
Serie A
Serie A‘s resurgence has made it one of the most exciting leagues to watch for the first time in decades, with its greatest strength being the revival of its Italian teams and the fall of Juventus.
Since 2021, the first year after Juventus’ nine-year Serie A winning streak, there have been three different league winners in the last four seasons. Currently, the Serie A title race is a three-way thriller between Inter, Napoli and Atalanta, as Inter Milan leads Napoli by just three points.
Amandeep Basra, a senior astrophysics and physics double major, thinks multiple leagues have the potential to be the world’s best.
“I would say LaLiga and Serie A are definitely the two [leagues] to talk about,” Basra said. “Serie A has shown a high level of unpredictability in terms of champions changing every year.”
Italian teams keep getting better each year. In the 2021-22 season, Roma won the Conference League and became the first Italian team to win a European trophy since 2010, when Inter won the Champions League. Inter Milan also made the final of the 2023 Champions League and Atalanta are the current winners of the Europa League.
At a glance, Serie A might seem similar to LaLiga: a tight title race, quality players and European success, just to name a few. Despite these similarities, there is a clear distinction between the Italian league and the Spanish league. Italian clubs are just starting to hit the standard for top European clubs, while Spanish clubs have done it consistently for years.
To put this idea into perspective, this season, eight Serie A teams participated in European play; five Champions League teams — more than any other league — two Europa League teams and one Conference League team. From those five Champions League teams, only Inter remains, while Lazio and Fiorentina are in the quarter-finals of their respective tournaments. Bologna crashed out in the group stages, while AC Milan, Juventus and Atalanta failed to make it to the Round of 16.
Italian clubs’ lack of continental success prevents them from being considered the best league in the world.
Bundesliga and Ligue 1
Based on performance, quality and success, it is clear that the Premier League, LaLiga and Serie A are the top three best leagues in the world at the moment. That leaves the German and French leagues, so what inhibits them from competing with the rest?
Although both leagues are very well known for their player development, they have a clear problem at hand. Currently, both leagues are dominated by one team, while the rest of the league has lacked domestic and continental success.
Bayern Munich have won the Bundesliga 33 times, including 11 in a row from 2013-2023. Despite losing to Bayer Leverkusen last year, they are on course to win the title again this year. Similarly, in the French league, Paris Saint-Germain has only missed out on the title twice since 2013, and are almost guaranteed to win again this year as they currently lead Marseille by 19 points.
The Bavarians are like vultures; as soon as a player from another Bundesliga club starts demonstrating their talent, they buy them. Some examples are goalkeeper Yann Sommer from Borussia Mönchengladbach, midfielder Marcel Sabitzer from Borussia Dortmund and Florian Wirtz who Bayern are rumored to buy from Bayer Leverkusen.
“I feel like when teams like PSG and Bayern dominate their respective league, it makes the games less thrilling,” Cardichon said. “There’s a sinking feeling that the underdog you’re rooting for is not gonna win and you sort of lose hope, even as a die-hard fan.”
No French team has won the Champions League since 1993 when Marseille beat AC Milan. Similarly, no German team other than Bayern has won the Champions League since 1997. This demonstrates a complete lack of continental success for both leagues — a pivotal need for any league looking to be the best in the world.
Ultimately, many leagues have a case to be the best, and now is the time to hop on board with the overseas soccer hype.
