La Liga Ambassador Mutiu Adepoju insists La Liga remains the best league in Europe despite Barcelona’s semi-final 4-3 aggregate defeat against Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League, which ensured two English sides would feature in the final of the competition at the Wanda Metropolitano, home of Atletico Madrid.
Spanish sides have won the last five editions of the Champions League and seven in the last 10 but none of them would be competing in the final on June 1, incidentally in the Spanish capital, Madrid, after Liverpool overturned a first leg 3-0 defeat to the Catalans in Camp Nou with a dramatic 4-0 win at Anfield on Tuesday.
Another English side Tottenham Hotspur also advanced to the final after a stunning second leg performance, which sent giant-killers Ajax packing in the other semi-final.
“It was just not their (Barca) time, so they have to move forward. Life goes on, there will be more games in the future where they can win again,” Adepoju, who played for La Liga sides Racing Santander and Real Sociedad, said.When asked if the results indicated that the English Premier League was now the number one in Europe, Adepoju said, “The Spanish league has been the best all these while, but the English league has also been at the highest level as well.
“Looking at the last 10 editions of the Champions League, Spanish clubs have won seven of them. But presently, we have two EPL clubs in the final, which makes both leagues the top leagues in the world, not just Europe. The Spanish league is ahead of them all but then the English league is also among the best. All we need to do is congratulate all the teams.”
Punch
