Xavi: European results show La Liga not far behind Premier League
Barcelona head mentor Xavi thinks the Champions League victories relished by Genuine Madrid and Villarreal this week clearly show that Spain’s La Liga is “not considerably behind” England’s Leading League.
On Tuesday, Madrid progressed to the Champions League semi-finals with a 5-4 aggregate victory in excess of holders Chelsea, even though Villarreal produced an unlikey 2-1 combination win above Bayern Munich.
Xavi, a four-time Champions League winner with Barcelona in his enjoying times, says these wins demonstrate the excellent of Spanish soccer.
“What transpired on Tuesday shows that La Liga is not significantly powering the Premier League,” Xavi reported ahead of Barcelona’s Europa League quarter-ultimate next leg from Eintracht Frankfurt.
Barcelona on their own were knocked out of this season’s Champions League, with then-coach Ronald Koeman only in a position to oversee two victories as his facet completed third in their group.
Atletico Madrid, in the meantime, are 1- down to Manchester Metropolis in advance of Wednesday’s quarter-remaining second leg in Spain.
“No matter what, La Liga will often be La Liga and it’s really competitive,” Xavi added. “I saw the two game titles. I am a football admirer.
“In the conclude, our key aim is to be again in the Champions League.
“By the way, Villarreal are a major club now, aren’t they? You all must set them on your ‘big clubs’ list.”
Premier League golf equipment have faced La Liga clubs in 11 matches in European competitiveness this period, with English sides winning 7 and Spanish sides successful three.
The Premier League and La Liga are the top two UEFA-rated divisions by club coefficient — the technique used to figure out how numerous Champions League sites a league will get dependent on the effectiveness of its clubs in European competitions more than the earlier five seasons.
La Liga (94.9) is 9 points behind the Premier League (103.8) and 20 details ahead of Serie A (75.6.)
Xavi’s Barcelona are the favourites to earn the Europa League, but head into Thursday’s match at the Nou Camp having only drawn 1-1 in last week’s first leg against Eintracht.
(Image: Getty Photographs)
