Spain’s complete domination of England! Why can’t Premier League teams beat La Liga in European Cup finals?

You’ve probably all heard at some point that the Premier League is the best league in the world. Lots of pundits, fans and players alike say so. And it’s probably true, except that when it comes to clashing in finals with La Liga sides, the English league regularly has to bow out.

We don’t even need to talk about the Premier League being the most balanced league. There are several teams fighting for the title, clubs with big ambitions and huge budgets fighting for the Top 6. You won’t find such a balance anywhere else, Bayern reigns supreme in Germany, PSG in France, and in Italy, after years of Juventus’ domination, the Milanese have taken the throne.

The only league that comes close is La Liga. In Spain, Real Madrid and Barcelona have been battling it out for the title since time immemorial, with Atlético Madrid also joining the fray since around 2010. And in the last two seasons, Sevilla have also started to make their mark. However, it still doesn’t compare to the balance of the Premier League.

But is the Premier League really the best league in the world? When it comes to comparisons at the highest level, the English look like absolute outsiders against the Spanish.

9 finals without a win

Indeed, since 2006, the English side has not beaten the Spanish one in any Champions League or Europa League final.

2006, Europa League:: Sevilla – Middlesborough 4::0
2006, Champions League:: Barcelona – Arsenal 2::1
2009, Champions League:: Barcelona – Manchester United 2::0
2010, Europa League:: Atlético Madrid – Fulham 2::1
2011, Champions League:: Barcelona – Manchester United 3::1
2016, Europa League:: Sevilla – Liverpool 3::1
2018, Champions League:: Real Madrid – Liverpool 3::1
2021, Europa League:: Villarreal – Manchester United 2::1 AET
2022, Champions League:: Real Madrid – Liverpool 1::0

Thus, the English team has not beaten the Spanish one in the European Cup finals for nine consecutive times. The absolute dominance of Spain in Europe is confirmed by the overall trophies in recent years.

Since 2010, we have seen 13 editions of the Champions League and 13 editions of the Europa League. Seven times the Champions League has been dominated by a team from Spain, only three times by a team from England. The Europa League has been won eight times by teams from Spain and three times by teams from England.

Why is it that the Premier League teams cannot cope at all with their Spanish opponents? In the era of Real Madrid and Barcelona, where both giants had Ronaldo and Messi at their disposal, there is not much to worry about, they just weren’t up to them qualitatively.

But then there are the matches between Sevilla and Liverpool in the Europa League, or Villarreal and Manchester United, where the Spanish sides were definitely not seen as favourites. And yet they managed to win. After all, the vast majority of fans also favoured Liverpool in the Champions League, as Real Madrid objectively do not have as much power as before. Yet they won.

La Liga teams simply know how to play European matches. They know how to prepare well for them, and they are helped enormously by the winning mentality that exists or has existed in all winning teams. Thanks to this, they can manage even finals in which they are not the favourites.

Source: Transfermarkt, UEFA