Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho believes that giants Barcelona and Real Madrid would not dominate in the Premier League in the same way as they do in La Liga. The Chelsea manager, who won La Liga once in his three year spell at Real Madrid, claims the two clubs would struggle in England because there is too much competition, even from lower league teams in cup competitions.

"I was in Spain, but I didn’t enjoy," he told TalkSPORT. "I didn’t enjoy it because I won a title with a record in Spain with 100 points and 121 goals, but we played only three or four matches all season."

"I lost a title with 92 points, but again we played only four or five matches in the season. “You feel the pressure that you have to win every match because if you don’t you are not champions. You have to win and win and win. But it is a big, big gap between the giants and the others."

"I think the difference between the two leagues [Premier League and La Liga] is huge. Would they [Barcelona or Real Madrid] win the Premier League? Maybe yes. Maybe not."

Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/barcelona-and-real-madrid-would-not-dominate-in-the-premier-league-says-chelsea-manager-jose-mourinho-10260077.html

Considering Barcelona average about 1.05 in odds against the average-weaker teams (meaning that the betting sites believe that Barcelona will WIN 19 out of 20 games against that opposition and STILL have a margin of profit return) I think he might be on to something here. Yes, both Barcelona and Real Madrid are way better than the top teams in England. Note, I'm not arguing this very fact. But when teams have "privileges" like Barca or Real (You know what I mean right ;) ) it's not weird that either team win year after year.

Barcelona etc currently have 103-19 in goal-difference (19-0 in the last 5 league matches). and have taken 37 out of 39 points in the last 13.

Meanwhile Chelsea who totally dominates the BPL has taken 27 out of 37 possible points.

What are your thoughts? Would Barcelona and Real Madrid dominate in the BPL or do you agree with Mourinho who actually managed Real for 3 consecutive years?

picture credit:liomessi10

"We can't identify how competitive a league is from European competitions since everyone in the EPL is focusing on the league."
What other measures can we take in this case? How can teams prove that they got what it takes to beat another team from a different league if the UCL or the EL, competitions that are catered for this purpose, are not legitimate? Makes no sense.

"75% of La Liga fans are either Real Madrid or Barcelona fans. and Let's be honest, not many of these fans watch any other matches other than their teams or just when Real Madrid plays against Barcelona. You can also see that on the match highlights that no one cares about the other matches."

...Ok? How does that affect the standings? If, for example, Chelsea had 75% more fans than Manchester, does it make it better? lol what are you on about Alex.

He means that fans are divided on more teams, not just 2 or 3. For example look at 4th Valencia 2M likes at fb, Sevilla not even 1M of likes, Villareal 0,5M. While Tottenham got 6M+, and teams fighting for relegation Aston Villa 2M, Newcastle 1M+.. Not saying that Asto Villa is better than Valencia but you can certainly see that the league is more competitive even when it comes to fans.

^ fans dosnt win you games...

LOL, when people decide when teams are better by their popularity. This is hilariously desperate from EPL supporters. I literally broke out in laughter.

"Not taking anything away from MSN because they're an amazing aqttacking
trio but they wouldnät score even close to that many goals together in
the EPL. Not. Even. Close."

What the hell have you smoked KTB? Suarez alone was top scorer in the PL with 31 goals. Add the fact he is playing along side Messi and Neymar and developing a great parntership and they would wreck every team... Theyve done it against stronger teams (City, Bayern, PSG, etc) they could surely do it to most of the PL. The fact they score 100+ goals inst the leagues fault, they are just too damn good. Messi has destroyed Arsenal City and United. Chelsea is the only one to come off on top.

Alex, what a lame excuse. How can you say the PL teams focus on the PL more than the CL because its more important? that is ridiculous. The teams that focus on the PL are the teams that no longer participate on CL. I would believe you if you were only talking about the EL (and only the enlgish teams dont care about it) but cmon, how the hell can you say the EPL is more important than CL???

EPL more competitive than La Liga? Think again.
Since the creation of the EPL in 1992 the EPL has had 5 champions. ManU 13 times, Chelsea 4 times, Arsenal 3 times, ManCity 2 times and BlackBurn 1 time.
In the exact same period of time (1992-2015) La Liga has also had 5 champions. Barcelona 11 times, Real Madrid 7 times, Atletico Madrid 2 times, Valencia 2 times and Deportivo 1 time.

During that very same period of time, the CL has gone to a spanish team 7 times (Real-4 Barca-3) and 4 times to an English team (ManU-2 Liverpool-1 Chelsea-1)

Same amount of champions during the same period of time, except Spain has had more CL titles.

@Quik Still, nobody is talking about popularity.

ENG/ESP Champions League semi-finalists since the foundation of the EPL...

Barcelona - 94, 00, 02, 06, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15 (11)
Real Madrid - 98, 00, 01, 02, 03, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 (10)
Valencia - 00, 01 (2)
Deportivo - 04 (1)
Villareal - 06 (1)
Atletico - 14 (1)
Manchester United - 97, 99, 02, 07, 08, 09, 11 (7)
Chelsea - 04, 05, 07, 08, 09, 12, 14 (7)
Liverpool - 05, 07, 08 (3)
Arsenal - 06, 09 (2)

ESP - 26
ENG - 19

ENG/ESP Champions League finalists since the foundation of the EPL...

Barcelona - 94, 06, 09, 11, 15 (5)
Real Madrid - 98, 00, 02, 14 (4)
Valencia - 00, 01 (2)
Atletico - 14 (1)
Manchester United - 99, 08, 09, 11 (4)
Chelsea - 08, 12 (2)
Liverpool - 05, 07 (2)
Arsenal - 06 (1)

ESP - 12
ENG - 9

ENG/ESP Champions League winners since the foundation of the EPL...

Real Madrid - 98, 00, 02, 14
Barcelona - 06, 09, 11
Manchester United - 99, 08
Chelsea - 12
Liverpool - 05

ESP - 7
ENG - 4

Enjoy

^ So what exactly are you trying to prove here? I think I got lost in all the nonsense unrelated to the topic. Those stats only show how between RM and Barcelona they've been carrying La Liga through the years...

Back to the topic: "Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho believes that giants Barcelona and Real Madrid would not dominate in the Premier League in the same way as they do in La Liga. "

again, they wouldn't. Historically they would have obviously won way less tittles if they played in the EPL and right now, Barcelona would have won it but with a more or less a 5 pts difference from 2 place and no more than 10pts from 1st to 5th.

I think we all can agree with this, people is going nuts trying to prove irrelevant points.

If Barcelona or RM would have played in the EPL since the beginning of times (not together):

• They would have won less tittles than the ones they've won in Spain.
• They would win their respective tittles with shorter margins between 1st and 5th places.
• They would lose more games, score less goals, receive more goals and win less games than they usually do in Spain.
• The league could have even affected in their performance in the CL due to its competitively.

I dont think I can put it more simple than that... If you dont agree with those last points then perhaps you should consider watching some more football...

I hope everyone stays a little more in topic from now on as this is my last chance on trying to keep this thread on the right tracks.

@Tuanis

• "Those stats only show how between RM and Barcelona they've been carrying La Liga through the years... "*

And United and Chelsea didn't carry the EPL? The hypocrisy! Looking at only one side of the argument. The bias here is real.

"Barcelona would have won it but with a more or less a 5 pts difference from 2 place and no more than 10pts from 1st to 5th."

How can you say that when there is currently an 8 point difference between 1st and 2nd, and a 22 point difference between 1st and 5th... LOL. Playing Barcelona would just mean adding some extra L's to the records of the top 5 English teams. :D

@KTB
probably Barca and RM wouldn't score as many as that goals, but when you put Barca and RM with 3rd-20th rank in EPL, they would still beat/dominate them all. the 1st and 2nd rank of EPL should go to La Liga to be fair to answer another question : would they dominate La Liga like Barca and RM.

^ if top 2 EPL went to la liga, they would be on 4th and 5th spot. LOL.

"EPL more competitive than La Liga? Think again." then shows how RM and Barca have won 18 out of 23 titles? Think about what? Barcelona will end up with 96 fucking points. OH how fun. Would they have end up with 96 points in epl? No.

"And United and Chelsea didn't carry the EPL? The hypocrisy! Looking at only one side of the argument. The bias here is real." what about City or Arsenal or Liverpool who finished second last year? would that happen in la liga? No.Only 2 teams. The bias is indeed real.

Anyways, keep it to the subject! I think Mourinho is 100% right. It's simply the truth?

@raimondo: well said, very well said. I wanted to post that but well... Im an EPL's fan myself as much as a La Liga's fan.

Mou's statement thrown at this point is so god-damn wrong, it's the argument fans have been throwing around for ages... especially came out of his side. EPL hasn't changed it's no1 spot/Chelsea since forever and we have already forseen that for longgggg that they would be champ. At the same time La Liga title only decided in the last 4 round.

Again, sound to me Mou said it to emphasize his achivement ALONE in this case.

If sir Alex is still there, EPL would just be around MU, Chelsea and MC. OUr top teams really get weaker... Any team in EPL just have to face a decent force from Spain or Italy or Germany, we will play quite embarrasingly.

That's the EPL fact, the fact that is reflected in every single aspect: top prize CL, EL, and national team

The only thing we are better than Liga since the last few years are Atmostphere and the fans.

Do you really thing natural fan would watch Vila vs Spur or Stoke City vs Everton... Nope, they are ignored as much as people ignore other games in La Liga. So some of your comparison here is ridiculous... not to mention, these spainish guys aint all of them are good with English forum.

They are the same to me.

As for the MSN, they would score less in the PL but not by that much. Suarez proved that last year.

Just wanted to mention our young CB Tomas Kalas, who kept him quiet for a fully 90 at Anfield.

If I may say my opinion here :D La Liga vs BPL discussions are always the best, 'cause we got everyone here, lots of opinions. I pretty much agree with everyone here. I don't even remember everything that's been said because so many points have been made.

I think Barca & Real would NOT dominate in BPL as much as in La Liga, PERIOD. That doesn't mean however that Real & Barca wouldn't both be in top 2 in BPL, they would, PERIOD.

(Valencia, Atleti, Sevilla, Bilbao) vs (Arsenal, Man Utd, Liverpool & Tottenham). I always thought BPL were much better on this side, but I think it's very close now (still think BPL bit better).

Bottom half (La Liga) vs Bottom half (BPL). I think BPL have much better teams there, I think it's also down to budgets, I think BPL's bottom teams attract better players than La Liga's. We will hope that La Liga will share the TV deal better next seasons.

I'm totally unbiased, I've said this many times but I've watched 4-5 La Liga games a week for a few years, but when I realised RMA & FCB got 100pts & won most of the games 5-0 to 7-1, I just lot a bit motivation. It's also correct, that BPL have got a very few champions over the years.

It's pretty obvious too that José told this just because he seems to be still bitter that the media went against him in Spain which was the reason he left Spain, he wanted to be loved.

I think tuan said here somewhere, that most of the BPL games seem to be so boring nowadays. I agree, I want to see high intensity football with attractiveness into it. I've recently watched a few La Liga games and the ones that I've been watching have been actually very entertaining.

I agree with Dynastian about defining an actual big team. It's when you actually play football for 90 minutes attractive way (that doesn't ******* mean that you have to play tiki taka, it means that you actually want to score goals rather than park the bus & _ONLY_ score on counters) and win that way leagues & have success in europe

Alright lets take down this domination discussion. Lets take a look back at theE EPL history...

1992-93 Man U champion with 84 pts- 10pts gap with second place
1993-94 Man U champion with 92 pts- 8pts gap with second place
1994-95 Black Burn champion with 89 pts- 1 pt gap with second place (Man U)
1995-96 Man U champion with 82 pts- 4 pts gap with second place
1996-97 Man U champion with 75 pts- 7 pts gap with second place
1997-98 Arsenal champion with 78 pts- 1 pt gap with second place (Man U)
1998-99 Man U champion with 79 pts- 1pt gap with second place
1999-00 Man U champion with 91 pts- 8pts gap with second place
2000-01 Man U champion with 80 pts- 10pts gap with second place
2001-02 Arsenal champion with 87 pts- 7pts gap with seocnd place
2002-03 Man U champion with 83 pts- 7pts gap with second place
2003-04 Arsenal champion with 90 pts- 11pts gap with second place (first time Man U is in 3rd place)
2004-05 Chelsea champion with 95 pts- 12pt gap with second place (Man U in 3rd place again)
2005-06 Chelsea champion with 91 pts- 8pts gap with second place (Man U)
2006-07 Man U champion with 89 pts- 6pts gap with second place
2007-08 Man U champion with 87 pts- 2pts gap with second place
2008-09 Man U champion with 90 pts- 4pts gap with second place
2009-10 Chelsea champion with 86 pts- 1pt gap with second place
2010-11 Man U champion with 80 pts- 9pts gap with second place
2011-12 Man City champion with 89 pts- 0pt gap with second place (Man U)
2012-13 Man U champion with 89 pts- 11pts gap with second place
2013-14 Man City champion with 86pts- 2 pts gap with second place (Man U in 7th place)
2014-15 Chelsea champion with 84 pts- 8pts gap with second place (Man U in 4th) with one game left to play

If you took the time to read this, did you get tired of reading Man U champion? I did.
Manchester United single handedly dominated the EPL for most of its history. EPL "is more competitive" because SAF retired. I have no doubt in my mind Real Madrid and Barcelona would replicate this playing in the EPL.

winning with 90+pts in the EPL unheard of? it has happened 6 times. Having a gap of more than 10 pts with second place unheard of? it has happened 5 times.

Manchester united has had more of a dominance over the EPL than either Barcelona or Real Madrid have done in La Liga.

The EPL has a great marketing team and their goal is to sell you the league, they have done so masterfully.

"is more competitive because SAF retired."
That's a bs mate. They are always rivalries between winning the league. United-Liverpool, United-Arsenal, then came Chelsea, and now even City. Before last season was anyone even thinking that neither Barcelona or Real Madrid to win the league?

kinda agree with decentK. +1

I agree 100% with Raimondo, the league is overhyped, and people who have this superiority complex watch CL confronatation with a surprise, people are shocked to see English teams underachieving, for other leagues fans its just normal because the level is not very high there, players have many '' excuses '' to underachieve and they do, overpaid, rock star life, less concentrated in Football, money over results even for clubs, media hype...
Its like NBA, you think there is star players in each team while they are known because media hypes them, a big player is a consistent one, a player who scores 13 goals a season has his glory month on a season and loose form at times is just a normal player, many of those hyped players came from Liga and many are still there, so maybe PL is the best place for average players like Gomis or Michu while from unknown in the Football map you get that visibility and blind support, better go there because with the same quality or even better, you wont get that recognition in Ligue 1 or Liga....