Which league dominates the UEFA Champions League?

Themba Sweet analyses who has been dominating the Champions League.

Last season I noticed an increasing feeling on social media platforms and amongst the tv pundits, that La Liga is the best performing league playing in the UEFA Champions League. Now in the past few years with Barcelona dominating, it can be understood. Yet if you took a look at Real Madrid’s past few years in the UCL, you’d notice that they were rather disappointing. I decided to go back into the record books and see which league really does dominate the Champions League.

As a kid growing up in the early 90’s, Serie A was the dominant force in Europe. It was clear to see in this competition too, with a Serie A club involved in every final for 7 straight years: 1992-1998.

Although the Champions League was rebranded in 1992, it didn’t resemble the current tournament until the 1997-98 season. This was the first season where teams could enter the UCL without the need to win their league.  In my research I aim to see which league is consistently in the final KO rounds of the UCL and if 1 league has more than 1 team, they get more than 1 point. So to keep everything as fair as possible, here were my guidelines for this test:

• I’ve taken the date range from 1997/98 – 2011/12
• I consider teams in the QF stage and onwards only (final KO rounds)
• 1 point per team
• I’ve only taken into account the top leagues:
• EPL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, Primeira Liga, Eredevisie

Quarter-final stage

So let’s see who really does dominate the Champions League as we know it. The consensus seems to be La Liga, but let’s see who’s dominated the past 15 years of the QF stage:Over the past 15 seasons, the English Premier League has been an ever-present in the quarter-final stage. Aside from that, they’ve made a total of 32 appearances at this stage. This is more important since it is a reflection of the strength of the league. An example is the 2007/08 & 2008/09 seasons which both had 4 EPL teams reach the QF stage. That’s 8 appearances in the QF over 2 years for the EPL. No other league has had 4 teams from their league in the QF at this stage, yet the EPL managed it in 2 consecutive seasons. La Liga trails in this regard with 27 appearances over 15 seasons.

Semi-final stage

It has to be said that the QF stage of the Champions League has been dominated by the EPL teams for nearly 2 decades, but if we think about the Semi-Finals over the past few years, one team springs to mind – Barcelona. An ever-present for half a decade in the semi’s, and possibly the main reason many believe La Liga to be stronger in Europe. It’s quite true though. The last time Barca failed to reach the SF stage was 6 seasons back. They are clearly the best team in Europe based on UEFA coefficients. But what about the rest of La Liga?

Even though the past 6 seasons saw 11 appearances by EPL teams in the semi’s against the 9 from La Liga, the Spanish league pips the Premier League since the EPL made most of their SF appearances in the past few years. 

One of the most striking facts one can take from this table is the gulf between the EPL/La Liga teams when compared against the rest of the European Leagues. None of the other leagues have made 10 appearances at this stage, yet the EPL & La Liga might make their 19^th & 20^th appearance this season if more than 1 team reaches the SF. It speaks volumes as to why many foreign players are choosing the EPL & La Liga over Bundesliga & especially Serie A. There seems to be more chance of glory in those 2 leagues.

Having said that, there has been a Bundesliga team in the semi’s for the past 3 seasons. Italy’s last appearance in the semi’s – 2009/10. In fact, out of the past 15 seasons, a Serie A team has only been present in 7 of those 15 tournaments at this stage. And what of the Eredivisie? 1 appearance in the semi’s in 15 seasons? It’s little wonder that the youth of Ajax choose to move to the giants of Europe.

Of all of these numbers & figures, the 3 year stretch by the EPL between 2006 & 2009, has to be the most impressive. 3 EPL teams reached the semi’s 3 years in a row. 9 appearances in 3 seasons.

La Liga takes the prize for the best semi-finalists, edging out the EPL for now at least.

Finals

It’s very easy to count who has won the most titles over 15 years, but dominance doesn’t always result in titles. Chelsea vs Barcelona/Bayern last season. The dominant team didn’t win. Simply reaching the finals is a massive achievement. Things can go wrong within the game, but reaching the final is no accident. Having said that, which league has had the most appearances in the Final since 1997/98?

The EPL slightly edges La Liga, having made 9 appearances in the finals over 15 years. The graph roughly states that there’s currently over a 50% chance that a team from the EPL will reach the finals. However, if you look at their run before 2004, you’ll notice the stark contrast. Simply 1 final before 2004 – the famous 1999 victory from Manchester United. It clearly shows how far the EPL has come over the past decade. Over the past 8 seasons, there have been 8 appearances in the finals by an EPL team. That is ridiculously good. In comparison, the past 8 seasons have seen 3 finals from La Liga teams (all 3 appearances from Barcelona). La Liga had more of a presence in the finals in the years building up to the 2002 Galacticos victory.

Winners

La Liga has taken more UCL titles than any other league in Europe. Currently sitting on a 75% chance of victory if a La Liga team reaches the final. All 6 of the La Liga titles have been won by either Real Madrid or Barcelona, whereas 3 of the 4 EPL titles have been won by different teams. A shock to the Bundesliga (recently rewarded with 4 UCL spots) is their success rate over the past 15 seasons. 1 title (Bayern Munich). Even more worrying for the rest of Europe is that there have been no winners over the past 8 years other than Serie A, La Liga & EPL. A total domination of titles shared amongst 3 leagues.

Bear in mind that all of these stats are taken from the 1997/98 season – 2011/12. The reason is that 1997/98 was the first season to invite other teams apart from the league winners. This means we can grade the league and not just 1 team from the league (as pre-1997/98 tournaments were structured). Since UEFA have invited more than just 1 EPL team into the UCL, I would venture to say that they have dominated. Using the tables above, we can take the following info:

 This is a table based on presence – basically, who was there in the final stages over a period of 15 years. There has been more of a presence in the final stages by EPL teams rather than La Liga. The difference is that the La Liga teams go on to win the trophy when reaching the final. Well 6 out of 8 times, that is. At the end of the season, the winners are always remembered & rightfully so. Hopefully this article shows that the EPL, in recent years, has been the league to go consistently further than others in this competition. It also shows the vast gap between EPL & La Liga teams when compared to the rest of Europe.

Cheers.

Author: Themba Sweet

Twitter: @thembasweet

Site: http://footiecall.blogspot.com/

You can find more of Themba's work here

Football Tweets of the week: 25/06

It's back! Ages and ages ago, you may remember we actually did have this feature running regularly a few months ago. But for one reason or another, we stopped, but it's back. Here are our best football tweets of this week! (Tweets are in no order, just randomly collected)

1.) Danny Murphy proves the idea of an intelligent footballer is a myth by signing for Blackburn. - @PickThatOneOut

2.) Papastathopoulos... Imagine having to pay for that on the back of your shirt. No wonder the Greeks are skint. - @pmblgz

3.) So Arsenal have signed Olivier Giroud? He's only 25. Why has he decided to end his career so early? - @FootballFunnys

4.) John Terry has asked if the 5th official [from the Ukraine -England game] can be a juror at his racism trial next month. Blind. - Opta_Joke

5.) Poor Van der Vaart. Once again, he finishes 4th and is sent packing from Europe! -@ShikharrC

6.) "Penalties are a lottery." Yes, if by that you mean England have a one in a million chance of winning. - @AltFootball

7.) Roy Hodgson is set for a test for drugs with UEFA. Officials became suspicious when they saw Milner was starting for England vs Italy. - @FootballFunnys 

8.) Steven must have had a sleepless night following England's defeat... - @RobCRoose

 9.) Against a tough Ukraine side, England will have to start ugly tonight... or Wayne Rooney as he's more commonly known. - @StupidFootball

10.) Where was this guy? (Tweeted after England's loss on penalties by Italy) - @AttackoftheKop

Be sure to follow all these guys on Twitter, you can follow us at @ReviewFootball

England and Italy… Rooney and Balotelli

Hello, I’m Callum Rivett, and welcome to my latest blog for The Football Front. This week it's the turn of the quarter finals to capture my fleeting glances, and what a quarter final it looks to be. 

            England.

            Who thought England would finish top of the group with two wins and a draw against France? I certainly didn’t, and I think this is because the expectations had been lowered to the point that we thought we may not even get out of the group.

            We have avoided world champions Spain, which is welcome news to every English fan, but unfortunately face a tie with favourites Germany in the semi-final if we beat Italy. The Germans are, unsurprisingly, an efficient bunch, and have proved so by winning four out of four matches. Their only weakness could be their defence - an average Greek side scored two, albeit one from a penalty. 

            Roy Hodgson has built up a fantastic team spirit within the camp, and that can only have a positive effect. The Italians are nothing special, but then neither are we. Both sides are defensively minded, and will sit back and look to hit the opposition on the counter. 

            Those techniques are fine against opposition that like to attack and are a better side than yourself. But what we could be looking at is a match where the two sides are waiting for the other to attack, both sitting back, both scared of going forwards. 

            Then again, since it’s a quarter final and winner-takes-all match, we could have the most exciting and enthralling match of the tournament on our hands. Two very evenly matched sides, no big expectations, but with a team full of hard-working, classy players. We have Rooney; they have Balotelli. We have Hart; they have Buffon. 

            Both us and Italy boast world-class talents, but both have a loose fuse. Rooney and Balotelli can be either heroes or villains. Both have been sent off numerous times, but they have both scored numerous times. Balotelli is effectively the Italian Wayne Rooney. You can see the raw talent, the enthusiasm, but there is something else, something dark. A violent, idiotic side: Rooney’s kick against Montenegro, Balotelli’s sending off versus Arsenal, Rooney’s stamp on Carvalho, Balotelli and the bib. 

            Ultimately Balotelli is more idiotic than aggressive, and Rooney vice versa, but the talent there is undeniable. Under the guidance of Roberto Mancini, Super Mario can flourish to become a world-class talent, but only if Man City can control his wild side. He’s arrogant, but not in a moronic way. He gives 60% of his wages to charity, so it is obvious he is actually not as stupid as he makes out. 

            There is only one word that fully describes Mario Balotelli: entertaining. 

            These two will be the focal points for the media come Sunday, and they could hold the key to their country’s success. England will have to dominate Italy’s defence - which is weak - to win, and I believe that if we get to half-time at 0-0 then we have a superb chance to get to a semi-final, something that doesn’t come along that often. In fact, I wasn’t even born when England last got to the semis, but I know the story of that 1990 game against Germany. Gazza’s tears, Pearce’s penalty, Lineker’s 80th minute equaliser… 

            We have a real chance of making a semi-final. We are on the same level as Italy, and it should be a balanced match which whets the neutrals appetite, and drives both country’s supporters to the brink of despair and back again. 

            It’s tiring being an England fan: the heart-aches, the quarter final exits, the constant underachievement. 

            But now it’s different. Now there are no expectations. The nation believes, not expects.

Follow Callum on twitter: @CJRivett12. You can find more of Callum's work here.

Addressing the Balance

Arguably, the English Premier League is best league in the world. It’s an incredibly competitive league where the quality is great throughout and the game is played with a great tempo and physicality.

But, there has been something of a moral panic in England in the past few years. There has been a consistent worry about the number of English players playing for the elite clubs in England. To many observers of the game, there is simply not enough English players representing the top four clubs.

The common hypothesis is that as the Premier League has got wealthier the number of English players in the league has rapidly declined. Perhaps it’s agreeable that domestic football has become more international. But the question is, how does England fare to other nations such as Italy and Spain in terms of the number of nationals of the particular country representing their top four clubs?

The FA have tried to minimise the issue. This season, the Premier League has implemented the home grown rule. The rule demands that each team must enlist at least eight ‘homegrown players’ in their official squad list. But homegrown players can include foreign players who have been lived in England since their early teens. So some argue, the homegrown rule is perhaps flawed.

For the analysis, there has been a comparison between the number of nationals used by England in contrast to the number of nationals used by Spain and Italy. This will put a measure to the degree of England’s concern with the number of English players representing the top four.

The teams chosen for the analysis are the English, Spanish and Italian top four of 2009/10 season. This therefore means the teams analysed are the clubs who originally participated in the Champions League this season.

The statistics are based on players who have made appearances for the teams in any of the four competitions (National Cup, League, Europe, League Cup) during the 2011/11 season.

England

Team	No. of players	No. ENG players	% of ENG players	No. of players representing in Europe	No. of ENG players representing in Europe	% of ENG players representing in Europe
Chelsea	30	8	26%	25	7	28%
Man United	28	9	32%	26	8	32%
Arsenal	31	6	19%	25	5	20%
Tottenham	32	13	40%	23	6	26%
Total	121	36	29%	99	26	26%

One could argue it’s alarming that only one team in England’s top four has a double figure representation of English players. Tottenham clearly have a higher representation of English players compared to the other teams in the top four. In comparison to their North London rivals Arsenal, there is a gulf in difference. Only six players have been of English origin for Arsenal this season. To many, this is an incredibly disturbing statistic.

However, the Champions of England, Manchester United, had the highest domestic bias out of all the top four teams in Europe. So it could be viewed as good that United made it to the Champions League Final this season as they had the highest representation of English players.

Spain

Team	No. of players	No. ESP players	% of ESP players	No. of players representing in Europe	No. of ESP players representing in Europe	% of ESP players represnting in Euroope
Barcelona	32	21	65%	26	15	57%
R. Madrid	33	17	51%	26	11	42%
Valencia	28	15	53%	26	14	53%
Sevilla	28	12	42%	26	11	42%
Total	121	65	53%	104	51	49%

There is a frightening difference between England and Spain. All the Spanish teams in the top four were in double figures in regards to the number of Spanish players used. Even Sevilla, the team with the lowest domestic bias, still has a far greater figure than any of the English top four. This demonstrates how poorly English players are being represented in the elite positions of the Premier League.

Furthermore, for Barcelona, Valencia and Real Madrid, more than 50% of the players who appeared for them this season were Spanish. With the English teams analysed, there was not a single team who had anywhere near 50% of their players being English.

Barcelona deserves special praise. They have dominated Europe and Spain with a sensational domestic bias. Real Madrid’s domestic bias is 51% while Barcelona’s domestic bias is 65%. This demonstrates the wide gap between the rivals.

Italy

Team	No. of players	No. ITA players	% of ITA players	No. of players representing in Europe	No. of ITA players representing in Europe	% of ITA players represnting in Euroope
Inter	30	7	23%	29	8	27%
Roma	28	12	40%	26	10	38%
Milan	32	16	50%	23	11	47%
Sampdoria	29	18	62%	29	18	62%
Total	116	50	43%	107	47	43%

Even when comparing the domestic bias in Italy, England is severely lagging behind. 50% of the players used for the Serie A champions Milan were Italian, while only a mere 32% of Manchester United players, for example, were English.

The likes of Roma, Milan and Sampdoria have a higher or very similar domestic bias to Tottenham (the team with highest domestic bias for the English teams analysed) This vividly proves not only in Spain but even in Italy, the top English teams are not representing English players as much as the other nations are representing their nationals.

But perhaps, Sampdoria are evidence that too many nationals can be an issue. In the 2009/10 season, Sampdoria finished 4^th. While in the following season, they finished 17^th and were relegated. This season they had a 62% domestic bias. One could argue that Sampdoria are proof you need a balance between the amount of nationals and foreign players.

Out of all the Spanish and Italian teams analysed, one team had a domestic bias which is even worse than some Premier League clubs - Inter Milan only fielded seven Italian players this season. Only Arsenal had a poorer domestic bias. Furthermore, when Inter won the Champions League in 2010, there was not a single Italian player in their starting eleven for the final. Perhaps this is a worry for Italian football. It could suggest that Italian footballers are becoming over-looked. However arch rivals, Milan are proof that this is not the case. After all, they were highly successful this season and they used 16 Italian players.

The statistics prove two things. Firstly, that English players are not given a sufficient chance on the largest club football stage. While in contrast, it could also suggest that English players are not good enough to play at the top of club football. Perhaps one would have to agree with this as if the English players were good enough to play on the top level, they would play. The simple fact there are only a handful of English players representing England’s top teams clearly indicates that a majority of the English players are simply not good enough and there are better players from different nationalities.

Perhaps the dearth of English players at the higher end of the Premier League I could provide an explanation to why English players are viciously over priced. In past few years the asking price for English players has risen beyond belief. The prices could be inflated due to the fact there are not many English players at the elite clubs. Therefore meaning that English players who are credible for the elite clubs are often rare, thus explaining their inflated price. Furthermore, one could even argue the new home –grown rule in Europe and in the Premier League has further inflated the price of English players. It is depressing but the nationality of a player can often inflate the price.

However, more has to be done to improve English players. After all, managers pick the players on terms of their ability. If an English player is good enough, he will play in the team. It is simple as that. But a majority of the time, English players are falling short at the higher end of club football. English clubs need to further invest in their academy’s and look to develop the players technical levels. The clubs need to take more of an interest and a more active role on the grass roots level. The English kids of tomorrow need to be instilled with a structured philosophy of how the game should be played and why it should be played in such a way. This will develop the youngsters understanding and reading of the game.

The stats prove England are lagging behind their rivals, and they have reacted far too slowly to the problem. In England’s top four, there is almost certainly one Spanish or Italian player per team. Yet in Italy and Spain there aren’t any English players in their top four sides.

The English clubs need to take a far more proactive role in their attempts to make the English players more suited for the elite clubs in England. But sadly, as the stats prove, the Spanish and Italian players are streaks ahead of the English players at this moment of time.

This piece was first published on Back Page Football

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