Europe’s top soccer leagues
EUROPE’S TOP SOCCER LEAGUES
Barclay Premier League (England):
Season starts: Aug. 18.
Season ends: May 19, 2013.
Number of teams: 20.
Games played per team: 38.
The skinny: Bank ledgers, not the standings, have provided the real numbers to watch in what has become richest league in the world. Money clearly rules in the English Premier League, where, over the last 15 years, The Big Four of Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal have combined to win 14 titles — the exception coming last season when Manchester City scored twice in injury time in its final game to edge Man-U atop the table. No one is anticipating that will usher in a new wave of parity, however.
La Liga (Spain):
Season starts: Aug. 18.
Season ends: June 1, 2013.
Number of teams: 20.
Games played per team: 38.
The skinny: With two of the best club teams in the world in Real Madrid and Barcelona and two of the best players in the world in Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Barca’s Lionel Messi — the pair combined for 96 goals last season — La Liga has always been considered somewhat top-heavy. But now the International Federation of Football History and Statistics, using a detailed mathematical formula, calls it the best league in the world.
Bundesliga (Germany):
Season starts: Aug. 24.
Season ends: May 18, 2013.
Number of teams: 18.
Games played per team: 34.
The skinny: Among professional sports leagues worldwide, only the NFL has drawn a higher average attendance in a season than the Bundesliga, which played before 45,134 fans a game last season. The league, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary this season, traditionally has been dominated by Bayern Munich, a 21-time league champion and the runner-up in last summer’s UEFA Champions League.
Serie A (Italy):
Season starts: Aug. 25.
Season ends: May 19, 2013.
Number of teams: 20.
Games played per team: 38.
The skinny: Italian soccer fans no doubt welcomed the start of the season Saturday after a summer filled with turmoil. Juventus, which didn’t lose a league match last season, was caught up in the country’s latest match-fixing scandal, one that saw Coach Antonio Conte hit with a 10-month suspension. But its chief rival, AC Milan, has suffered even more with the core of the team — Alessandro Nesta, Clarence Seedorf, Gennaro Gattuso, Filippo Inzaghi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva, Mark Van Bommel and Gianluca Zambrotta — all departing, leaving the league struggling for credibility once again.
—Kevin Baxter
