The Top Best Leagues Of European Football
After UEFA standardised the parameters of European organisations that decide the number of teams from every association that will compete in UEFA competitions in a season, almost everyone knows which are the best European football leagues.
Prior to the introduction of standardised pointers, the top flights of the Italian, English, Spanish, French, and German football leagues – not even in that order – were the continent’s prestige football leagues.
The teams in such leagues had the best organisation, the most revenue, and the most fans. In several ways, the disparity among the major European leagues and the others symbolised modern football’s highly capitalistic system.
The richest teams in Europe’s big football leagues and best from these league teams frequently attract funding from giant corporations and foundations, widening the gap in consistency and stature between them and the rest of the continent.
The rich leagues, unsurprisingly, appear to have the finest players. Alternatively, if and whenever teams from other leagues create or procure these stars, they guarantee that they get the best. (Ajax is an excellent example.)
And what about the quintet’s own differences in quality? It would have been easy to list them based on their UEFA coefficients.
However, rating a league should contain certain subjective factors such as the league’s history, the ability to generate hype, the competition and talent on display in the league, and other tangible and intangible factors.
Attempting to compare the big European football leagues is a subject that comes up every few months, about as often as picking a NAP in BBC European football betting every weekend.
It’s an age-old subject that can elicit heated debate and frustration. It is arbitrary in several respects, and those who choose one league over the other (for some reason) carry their own prejudices to the table.
The ‘strength’ within each tournament is not a simple assessment. The application of European success is common, but the unpredictable nature of knockout football renders this flawed. Let’s get started on that note.
La Liga
In Spain, where the previous three were divided by consistency all the way through the table, it’s all about peak results. While Cristiano Ronaldo is no longer in the league, La Liga is still home to many of the world’s best players, including Eden Hazard, Lionel Messi, Jan Oblak, Luis Suarez, Luka Modric, and many others.
Barcelona and Real Madrid are always among the Champions League sports betting favourites. Atletico Madrid is still never far enough.
Atletico Madrid has helped La Liga. They won a championship and are a persistent thorn in the side of the two clubs who have a close proximity duopoly in the Spanish league. The last time anyone other than those 3 ended in the best three was in 2011/12, and while it isn’t ideal, La Liga hasn’t had the same level of continued dominance of one team at the top.
In the 2010s, there were 2 all-Spanish finals, and Spanish teams claimed six of the eight Champions League finals, led by Real Madrid. Spain’s midfield may not be as powerful as strong teams in other nations (or so the public believes), but the consistency at the top would be enough to place them second.
Ligue 1
The French league, dubbed “the farmer’s league” by its critics, has one uber team that wins the championship almost every year.
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), which boasts Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Edinson Cavani (till last season) and Angel Di Maria among a plethora of other superstars, finds life in Ligue 1 a little too easy. PSG’s capital far outweighs that of all of their league rivals, which is unsurprising.
However, PSG’s inability to retain the Champions League despite having built a squad capable of doing so in recent seasons does not improve the French league’s ranking. In this respect, French clubs lag well behind their contemporaries from other major leagues across the continent, having only claimed the European Champions League one time (1993 in Marseille).
The UEFA Cup/Europa League history of French clubs is also not particularly impressive, with Marseille coming the nearest to winning it twice by making the final. Player poaching is also a problem in today’s French league. Monaco’s high-flying team, which made it to the Champions League semi-final when winning Ligue 1 that season, was soon annihilated as bigger teams from around the world and beyond decided to sign for their best players.
Bundesliga
Bayern has won eight games in a row, matching Juventus’ record. Following their two championships at the start of the decade, Borussia Dortmund has finished second in five of those campaigns.
Through four separate champions in five seasons at the end of the decade, the success of RB Leipzig, and a collection of teams getting in the top four in the last eight years, Bayern has dominated in recent memory, even though there seemed to be a championship battle.
In the last six seasons, Monchengladbach, Schalke, Leverkusen, Hoffenheim, Leipzig, and Wolfsburg have all made it into the top three. In 2015, Wolfsburg reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League, while Schalke pressed Real Madrid hard over the last 16 the year before.
The monopoly point can be used against the Bundesliga in the same way as it can be used against Serie A and Ligue 1. The teams chasing Bayern are expected to be faster and heavier than their French and Italian counterparts. This seems to be a deeper league in general.
Serie A
Juventus has won 8 Scudetti in a row, more than PSG, and is one of the few teams that has held the championship title even more than PSG. In 2019/20, they encountered one of their toughest title races, yet Maurizio Sarri seems to be on his way to make it nine in a row.
Although Italian domestic football is widely regarded as being stronger than French football, and Juventus has posed a greater challenge in the Champions Cup than PSG, the bulk of the past decade has painted a similar image. For the most part, the two Milan forces have been mired in mediocrity. Juventus has built a team that is well ahead of the pack thanks to a mix of discount and marquee recruits.
Roma’s journey to the Champions League semi-finals a few years ago was close to Monaco’s, more of an oddity than a legitimate bid for the trophy. Prior to Roma’s season, we need to go further to 2011/12 to seek the only non-Juve squad to reach the quarterfinals. Serie A hasn’t been the best league in the entire globe in a long time. Some may overestimate it due to nostalgia, and the prospect of these big clubs going to the top of the European football league is enticing. However, for an extended period of time, it has been a one-team competition at the pinnacle. It comes in fourth place because it has more depth than Ligue 1.
Premier League
The Premier League didn’t have a fantastic decade on the European stage in the 2010s, with sports betting odds on English clubs suffering a knock during that period. Since English clubs were the dominant power in the late-noughties, the decline of Manchester United, reforms at Manchester City, and general chaos at Chelsea resulted in a much weaker attempt in continental action.
That is beginning to change, including all finals in 2019, coming only a year after Liverpool became the 1st English squad to reach the final since 2012.
The Premier League has produced a greater variety of title winners as a result of the instability at the bigger clubs and the fact that there are many more teams that can intensely contend in the transfer market.
Four separate champions have emerged in the last five seasons. Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham, and Liverpool have all been into or out of the best three this season.
The instability and unpredictability that has hindered the Premier League’s ability to deliver in the Champions League have resulted in more shifts in the European standings. Being the most popular league on the planet brings in a lot of money. Football is, as we already realise, a very lucrative sport.
The Premier League’s revenue distribution gives mid-table and lower-table teams more financial clout, allowing them to engage for signings that their purported French or Italian counterparts could not. The English Premier League is fiercely competitive, with Leeds United, who were recently promoted, sending hearts spinning this season. In England, relegation fights are also exciting. In Europe, English teams have also had success.
The skill level of the Premier League’s non-European competitors has risen dramatically in recent years. The Premier League is now at the top of the table, thanks to this, as well as a revival in continental rivalry.
Betting on the European football league
Since European football is so popular among football lovers, they are always on the lookout to place a bet or two on the ongoing games. At the best betting platforms like Winissimo for Europa League betting, you can see the most recent odds available for the top clubs. We offer free tips on other sports betting as well as outright Europa League champions, all of which have been carefully investigated and are provided with the most up-to-date odds possible. If betting on individual Europa League matches isn’t your thing, you should still look at the outright markets and see who can take the tournament as a whole. So what are you waiting for? Happy betting!