Hart literally kept this game from being the most one-sided game between these 2 leagues ever, 11/10 performance! Without his performance, Barca could have won 10-0 without the 3 attempts that hit the woodwork. Utterly 1 sided and even Aguero couldn't capitalise with the penalty.
3 La Liga teams progress out of 3, 0 out of 3 for Premier League and only 1 out of 4 with Bayern for Bundesliga.
I remember people writing off La Liga after 7-0 Bayern/Barca and 4-3 Dortmund/Madrid, yet 2 years running since then, La Liga has dominated Europe again with most teams represented in the final stages of this great competition. The best league with the best teams without a doubt, Europa league proves that even more so too.
Additional stats; "The last 27 elimination ties between Spanish clubs and foreign opponents in European competition: > 25 advanced (93%) > 2 eliminated"
"Last 16 elimination ties between Spanish and English clubs: 15 Spanish clubs advanced (94%) 1 English club advanced (Chelsea-Barça '12)"
Lets address the real issue here. No other league has such a reliance on foreign talent than the EPL does. Barring a few clubs (LFC comes to mind) most squads would rather grossly overpay for an import than develop a homegrown talent. There is a reason why the Bundesliga model is touted. Why an unassuming Schalke side nearly nixed Madrid and a Leverkusen side brought Atletico to pens.
A look across the leagues when it comes to the amount of foreigners:
EPL – 58%
Serie A - 47%
Bundesliga - 45%
La Liga - 38%
Ligue 1 - 29% (this figure could be even lower due to many French born players opting to represent various CAF nations and therefore are counted as 'foreign')
What I'm getting at is - imho the age of frenzied transfer windows and players demanding exorbitant wages is coming to an end (or at least taking a prolonged break). A Bundesliga / La Liga / Ligue 1 side isn't going to be held ransom for a player. They'll promote from within. The results are there for all to see. Of course there will always be exceptions but someone with a straight face cant tell me that the more German or Spanish players a team has generally the worse off it is. The tide has changed in Europe its time for the EPL to readdress itself.
Messi is finally back to his very best. He did everything but score in this game. Lol. If he continues to play like this, he will win the Ballon d'Or. He's arguably the greatest to ever play the game. Ronaldo should stop throwing a fit every time his teammate scores instead of him and learn from Messi. He needs to become more selfless and start working for the team because only scoring goals doesn't make you the best player on the pitch like Messi showed yesterday.
Messi was all over the pitch, reminded me of his younger days, making runs from the wing and leaving players behind. Great performance from him, he honestly doesn't need to score many goals if he can deliver such fantastic assists and throw the opposing team off balance with his runs.
as expected, Barca go through. City showed a bit of a fight and kept Barca to one goal, but it wasnt enough.
Hart literally kept this game from being the most one-sided game between these 2 leagues ever, 11/10 performance! Without his performance, Barca could have won 10-0 without the 3 attempts that hit the woodwork. Utterly 1 sided and even Aguero couldn't capitalise with the penalty.
3 La Liga teams progress out of 3, 0 out of 3 for Premier League and only 1 out of 4 with Bayern for Bundesliga.
I remember people writing off La Liga after 7-0 Bayern/Barca and 4-3 Dortmund/Madrid, yet 2 years running since then, La Liga has dominated Europe again with most teams represented in the final stages of this great competition. The best league with the best teams without a doubt, Europa league proves that even more so too.
Additional stats;
"The last 27 elimination ties between Spanish clubs and foreign opponents in European competition:
> 25 advanced (93%)
> 2 eliminated"
"Last 16 elimination ties between Spanish and English clubs:
15 Spanish clubs advanced (94%)
1 English club advanced (Chelsea-Barça '12)"
Messi is finally back to his very best. He did everything but score in this game. Lol. If he continues to play like this, he will win the Ballon d'Or. He's arguably the greatest to ever play the game. Ronaldo should stop throwing a fit every time his teammate scores instead of him and learn from Messi. He needs to become more selfless and start working for the team because only scoring goals doesn't make you the best player on the pitch like Messi showed yesterday.
Messi was all over the pitch, reminded me of his younger days, making runs from the wing and leaving players behind. Great performance from him, he honestly doesn't need to score many goals if he can deliver such fantastic assists and throw the opposing team off balance with his runs.