Football, like most things in the world, works in cycles. Adhering to this theory was the shift from Serie A to the EPL over the late 90s.
The weight of the focus, desire, expertise and money inadvertently entered the beautiful game in the Premier League and a majority of consumers never looked back.
But then there was a glitch in the matrix, to quote the infamous Morpheus.
In an era where undoubtedly the English Premier League has churned out admirable results, how is it that the two greatest teams across Europe and indeed, the world, hail from a two-horse league?
As Barcelona and Real Madrid continue to hammer the opposition as they have for years, they have managed to inflict similar levels of damage in the Champions League.
One is left to debate whether La Liga really has taken over the English dominance this past decade, or if Spain has bestowed upon us two freakishly superior teams who happen to house two of the greatest players of this generation.
Obviously it is the latter, but with Pep Guardiola calling for La Liga to have four teams axed from its competition, ironically to make the league more competitive, ‘The Philosopher’ should keep his eye on Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid.
As ‘The Special One’s’ self-fulfilling prophecy once again transpires, his second season pattern could very well be the straw that breaks Barca’s back. Having previously taken União de Leiria to their highest ever finish, having solidified Porto as Champions League winners in 2004 with a remarkable 3-0 victory, then becoming Chelsea’s most successful manager ever with six trophies in three seasons, the buck incredibly didn’t stop there.
He became the first manager in the history of football to take three different teams to the Champions League semi-finals; he beat Barcelona to bring Inter to the final for the first time in 38 years, and consequently made Inter the first Italian team to ever complete the treble.
Now he’s at Real Madrid, having built a powerful team which has left Barca trailing for the first time in a while. It’s his second season, the notorious second season where his teams begin to gel.
Can Madrid keep it up and dismantle Barcelona? Before Mourinho it looked impossible, but with him it is insane to bet against it. Ronaldo became the first player in history to win the European Golden Shoe in two different leagues when he won it this season, and has impressively scored over 100 goals in just over two seasons, 12 of them hat tricks. He adapts fast. By comparison, Messi scored his 200th and has been at Barcelona for 7 ½ years.
Ronaldo is also the highest goal scorer in Spanish history, has set the history-breaking record of the most goals scored per minute, became the first player to ever win the FIFA Puskas Award, then bested the legendary Hungarian to become the highest ever scoring Real Madrid player in the clubs history, and subsequently the first Madrid player to score more than 50 goals in a season.
This season will see one of the best managers in history – the only one Sir Alex Ferguson wants to take over Manchester United – partner up with the relentless power of Cristiano Ronaldo. Superlatives, debates and comparisons aside, this season looks to be the one in which the Portuguese duo make their mark as they charge to the summit.
Can Barcelona stop the threat? Or was Ibrahimovic right when he blasted Guardiola- is Pep even prepared for Mourinho? We can only wait and see, but if history works in cycles and he can do it with Inter, then maybe Pep really does have something to fear.
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