La Liga has remained one in all Europe’s most compelling competitions in recent times, even amid the continued dominance of Actual Madrid and FC Barcelona, who’ve mixed to win 9 of the final ten league titles. Within the first full period with out Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, league president Javier Tebas addressed the state of Spanish soccer, taking a pointed swipe on the Saudi Professional League within the course of.
Regardless of the Barca-Madrid duopoly, the rivalry between Messi and Ronaldo turned the defining international storyline of Twenty first-century soccer. That draw started to fade when Ronaldo left Madrid for Juventus in 2018, and later when Messi departed Barcelona in 2021.
Talking on the Olé Sports activities Summit in Argentina, Tebas was requested about La Liga’s standing with out its two largest icons. He was agency in his response: “I would like to have Messi, Cristiano, Mourinho, Guardiola, all of them… However that’s not the important thing to sustaining development. Gamers are non permanent; what makes you nice are the golf equipment and a robust competitors.”
Addressing the narrative that leagues rely upon celebrity names to thrive, Tebas pointed to Cristiano Ronaldo’s new dwelling for example of the other. “Take the case of the Saudi league, which has main stars, however nonetheless hasn’t taken off as top-of-the-line on this planet,” Tebas said.
Javier Tebas in the course of the SPORTEL Monaco 2025.
A part of the problem for La Liga has been compensating for the void left by each legends. Barcelona, for instance, proceed benefiting from Messi’s legacy, with Diario AS reporting that Messi’s shirt remained the membership’s third-most-requested reproduction final season (followers buy clean kits and customise them as a result of licensing restrictions), solely behind Lamine Yamal and Robert Lewandowski.
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Regardless of the departures, Tebas insists the league’s structural mannequin, notably its strict salary-cap guidelines, has preserved development. “From an financial standpoint, not a single broadcaster informed us they might pay much less for media rights after Messi left. Contracts are for 5, six, seven years, so what actually issues is that the league stays aggressive,” the president concluded.
Is La Liga reaching the Premier League?
The Premier League is extensively thought-about the world’s strongest home competitors, combining star energy, parity throughout its prime golf equipment, monetary may, and unmatched international broadcast attain. In distinction, La Liga continues to wrestle with the long-standing dominance of Actual Madrid and Barcelona, who’ve gained 19 league titles since 2004-05, with solely Atlético Madrid interrupting them twice.
Nonetheless, Tebas maintains that La Liga stays firmly the second-best league in Europe—and believes the hole is narrowing: “In Europe, the Premier League is on prime, however we come proper after them. Under us are the Bundesliga, Serie A, and the French league. You can even see it in followers and engagement on social media. We’re rising every single day, widening the hole with different competitions and narrowing the space with the Premier League.”
In line with Transfermarkt, the Premier League leads all leagues with a mixed squad valuation of €12.77 billion, with La Liga trailing in second at €5.57 billion, with Italian Serie A (€5.4B), German Bundesliga (€4.7B), and French Ligue 1 (€3.6B) rounding out the highest 5. For now, England’s monetary supremacy reveals no indicators of fading, however Tebas stays optimistic about Spain’s trajectory.
