One representative of Spain in the price of the Champions League final .. “the catastrophe of the century”?

For the first time in 24 years, Spain will be represented by a single team in the Champions League final price match with the record holder Real Madrid, which raises a question mark about the current competitive strength of the "La Liga" league, which appears to be lagging behind, mathematically and economically, from its English rival.

With the group stage reaching its final round, Spanish football finds itself in the face of the heartbreak of dealing with the situation it has reached and its current limits.

And if Real Madrid, who receives Celtic on Wednesday, guarantees that they will get one of the two Group F tickets to the final price, then Seville, who is a guest of Manchester City on the same night, has lost any hope of qualifying for Group G.

Barcelona will find consolation in continuing its continental campaign in the "Europe League" competition, after Bayern Munich and Inter Milan won the third group cards, similar to Atletico Madrid, which needs to beat Porto in its stronghold on Tuesday in the second group, or lose Bayer Leverkusen against Club Brugge in order to Moves to the playoffs of the second continental competition in terms of importance.

The last time that only one Spanish team surpassed the group stage dates back to the 1998-1999 season, when Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao exited the competition, which consisted of 24 teams at the time, while Real qualified in particular before its quarter-final campaign ended at the hands of Ukraine's Dynamo Kyiv.

The catastrophe of the century?

The disappointment of the Spanish clubs this season did not pass without the alarm bell ringing, as the newspaper "El Mundo" spoke about the "disaster of the century for Spanish football?", wondering whether it was "a coincidence or a serious problem?"

"In recent years, Spanish football has been swimming in uncertainty. Sports doubt and economic uncertainty. Are these clubs inferior to what they were ten years ago?"

She asked, "Is the financial dominance of the English Premier League temporary, or will it continue for a long time?", considering that after the penultimate fifth round matches, "We got part of the answer on Wednesday evening."

This decline will have economic consequences, with the widening of the gap between the Spanish clubs as a result of Real Madrid receiving up to 11 million euros once it reaches the final price, as well as sports with reducing the difference between the second Spanish league and the third German in the European Union classification for the game (Wifa).

In a statement last week, La Liga president Javier Tebas softened the blow with some hesitation, saying, "If this happens to us for five years in a row..." without being able to finish his sentence, "We should not be concerned." It's a disappointment, not a disaster."

For Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez, "Every group is different, you have to analyze each exit separately. Juventus (Italy) is also out... So, no. I don't think there is a problem in Spanish football."

"You cannot say that the level of La Liga has fallen. I still think that La Liga is at the level of the English Premier League," he added.

"We lost something"

As for his former colleague in the national team Xabi Alonso, who recently took over the task of supervising German Bayer Leverkusen, he seemed more cautious than the former Barcelona star.

Alonso said that "the prestige of Spanish football in Europe is enormous, but the development is very fast in other countries. We are not talking here only about the English Premier League, but also about France, Italy and Germany. The fact that only one club out of four qualified for the final price indicates that The competition is very strong and we lost something."

For the leaders of Spanish football, the one responsible for the decline is well-known and the English Premier League, which was represented in the Champions League final during four of the last five editions.

And even that two of these final matches were purely English, while the Premier League lost two final matches against one Spanish team, Real Madrid, who last season raised their record to 14 titles in the main continental competition.

"We have to correct what is happening in the Premier League because the market has become a bubble and is unsustainable," Tebas warned in September. "There is no longer any economic control. This is a topic we will bring to the UEFA table."

But the Spanish League must look at a threat beyond England: the German League can have four representatives in the round of the final this season, while the Italian League has guaranteed that it will have two representatives and the number may rise to three if Milan qualify, while the Portuguese League will have an opportunity It is great for his third representative to qualify for this role, that is, with more representatives from the "La Liga" league.

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