The most competitive league in Europe.

On a day to day basis, the argument  rages on; with respect to which of the top five leagues in Europe is the best, toughest, most exciting, most competitive, most attractive, most marketable etc. In all sincerity, different indices are used to favour one league over the other; however, for this write up I will concentrate on the winners of these leagues over the last ten years, highlighting the number of different teams have been crowned champions from 2001/2002 to 2010/2011. I strongly believe this write up will shed enough light on the true competitive nature of the leagues as well as reduce the battle of words in Soccer Pub on which is the most competitive.

Italy


 In terms of attendances, Italy is a long way behind the major leagues in Europe, if its not due to the Ultras continued occupation of the major stadia leading to violent scenes across the country's venues, its the lack of enhancement and modification of the country's facilities since Italia 90; its one bribery scandal after another across the various division and the most funny has to be the part played by wolves in the winter months (even though the centers are half full during Autumn, Spring and Summer). What can be done to get the fans back to the stadia? What is the main reason behind the decline in numbers? Does it have anything to do with the quality of the football or the over reliance on tactics by the various managers in the league. Will improved infrastructure help the Italian game regain its excitement from the early 90s? Fortunately, the attendance figures is not the basis of the write up.

In the last ten years, Serie A has been dominated by both Juventus and Internationale, winning the scudetto four times each, although Juventus were stripped of two titles dues to the bribery allegations against some of the big clubs. Milan on the other hand, have won the prize twice in the last ten years, in order words; the Serie A has had 3 different champions over the last ten years with Inter Milan particularly dominant with five straight Scudettos.

Germany


Germany currently has the highest average attendance figures in Europe, the league is fast growing, its brand is gradually becoming more acceptable the world over. The exploits of the National team has also been a contributing factor to the attractive nature of the Bundesliga; Germany has led the way particularly in terms of youth development; the conveyor belt of the Germans is quite scary, the technical ability of their young players is probably only marched by the Spaniards, be rest assured that a number of these German youngsters would be the flavour of the summer transfer window.

The team from Bavaria have remained the most dominant over the last ten years in the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich have won the Bundesliga five times over the last one decade, closely followed by Borussia Dortmund with two titles with VFB Stuttgart and Werder Bremen, Vfl Wolfsburg winning once.

The Bundesliga has been spread among five different teams over the last decade, safe to say the Germans know how to do it best.

Spain


It is well known that Spain remains a douploy between Real Madrid and Barcelona, both teams have been the standard bearers for the league and they dictate everything, from Television rights to marketing rights; Barca and Real sit at the head of the table, any team that has been able to wrestle the title from both teams deserves enormous credit from all and sundry.

Valencia has been that team, they have continued to be at the fore front of seeking equal rights for all the teams and were able to demonstrate their capacity in this regard to pick up two titles in the last ten years; Real Madrid have also only three titles over the same period; Barcelona remains dominant in La Liga especially with their exciting brand of football.

La Liga has had three different winners, this may continue for as long as the duopoly has the control of the allocation of Television right, marketing rights etc, the rest of La Liga have a lot of catching up to do.

England


The English Premier League lays claim to being the most exciting league in the world, few are able to doubt that, mainly due to the atmosphere at various stadia in the Premiership. In terms of market value and marketability it is also safe to say the English have put together a good product, little wonder the idea of playing league games in a foreign country was muted at a point.

In the last ten years, the English have been able to steadily show their worth among Europe's elite with teams like Manchester United making it to three Champions League finals in four years. The Premiership has been more or less a battle of three teams; Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea. Manchester United have been the dominant force in the last ten years with five titles compared to Chelsea's three titles and Arsenal's two titles.

France

Ligue 1 is quite an intriguing competition as every year it seems very likely that you will have a new name on the trophy. This season, PSG have led the way especially with considerable investment in the playing personnel as well as the winning experience of Carlo Ancelotti; PSG have gone for broke.

The last ten years in Ligue 1 has witnessed the dominance of Olympic Lyonnais, who won seven titles in a row under the guidance of the likes of Jacque Santini, Paul Le Guen, Claude Puel, Gerlad Houllier and Alain Perrin; Lyon seemed to have built a dynasty in french football, however they have struggled of late.

Ligue 1 has had three different winners (Bordeaux, Marseille and Lille) over the last three years, I will seek to discount the effect of Lyon's 7 straight titles in determining the choice of the most competitive league in Europe.


Conclusion

Asides taking into consideration the number of different teams that have won the league, we should also pay attention to the number of different teams that have finished in the top three positions over the last ten years.

Taking all these into consideration, it is safe to draw a conclusion that the most competitive league among the big five leagues is ranked as follows;

1. The Bundeliga:  The Bundesliga has had more winners in the last ten years, accounting for five different champions over the period under review as well as three different teams finishing in the top three asides the winners highlighted during the period under review.
2. Ligue 1:  Despite the dominance of Lyon for a period covering 7 years, the French league has demonstrated it competitive edge with four different champions over the last ten years with a different champion over the last three years and the chances of the trend continuing is quite high with the exploits of PSG. Ligue 1 also accounts for five different teams finishing in the top three during this period.
3. La Liga: In as much as the power of Barcelona and Real Madrid remains solid, La Liga has also demonstrated a resolve to encourage more teams break into the top 3, with a total of four teams joining the big boys and enjoying champions league football. La Liga, on the other hand may suffer from the continued dominance of the duopoly, if their overwhelming financial muscle is not checked.
4. EPL and Serie A: The EPL and Serie A are tied for fourth place due to having the same number of recipents of league titles as well as same number of teams finishing in the top 3 places which is also three. This is quite ironic as a lot is said about the EPL being miles ahead of the Serie A; the truth is on the basis of this argument, there's nothing separating both leagues. 

Adeyemi Adesanya 

Tactics IQ Limited

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