Football: Survival of the Toughest, eh?

Talk to a 70 year old football fan and the first thing that they’ll say is that the modern era football players are not "real" men. The pre-league era of football is well known for rogues famed for hitting their opponent than the target. Names like Ron Harris, Norman Hunter and Stuart Pearce come to mind.
The debate for which league on the continent is superior in terms of style and quality continues to rage on. If Champions League success is a true barometer, then Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund reaching the final last term suggests the Bundesliga leads the way right now.
With trophies rarely given out for physical toughness, it’s a little more difficult to judge which league ranks as the most demanding. But today, I’ll try to do so.

5th: La Liga (Spain)
La Liga is known for skill and guile. If any league has stamped its dominance in terms of beautiful football, then it has to be La Liga. It also has in its personnel the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the two best players in the world. The title generally falls in the kitty of either Barcelona or Real Madrid.
But, in terms of physical toughness, they fall behind. Despite the threat these players carry, the pace of Spanish football can be pedestrian at times, allowing players longer periods of rest to what others may experience in leagues elsewhere.

4th: Ligue 1 (France)
French football has been in the news for a lot of reasons nowadays, but that has nothing to do with physical toughness. The pace of the game in Ligue 1 doesn’t put strain as much strain on the players as other leagues do. Players who have had injuries and are not able to tackle the pressure of fast flowing football generally move to France. But this could be about to change. With the new-found riches of Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco, it suddenly means more recent powers Lyon and Marseille are having their dominance challenged—and surpassed—like never before. Players of a higher caliber are finding their way to Ligue 1 and as teams look to combat that threat, the level of competition and physicality is only going to increase.

3rd: Serie A (Italy)
Italian league football is not scaling the same heights it enjoyed in the 1990s, but it doesn’t mean the physical burden has reduced. Everywhere you look, teams are challenging one another for supremacy and over a 38-game campaign, it takes its toll. Whether it be the Milan derby or Roma vs. Lazio, battles are taking place every week in stadia across Italy. Players like Giorgio Chiellini and Daniele De Rossi still give us committed tackling and heart-on-the sleeve approach which was a unique product of Serie A in the past. They don’t have the pace of Premier League or the flair of La Liga, but they still remain a beast that remains physically tough to negotiate.

2nd: Bundesliga (Germany)
Add Spanish football and English club football, what will you get? Something like Bundesliga. It not only creates a spectacle for those watching the match at home but also ensures that the players are pushed to their limits every week. Bundesliga football is flourishing right now for many reasons and its balance between style and substance is a major factor. Not only did Bayern Munich outplay Barcelona in the Champions League semifinal last season, but they out-muscled them, too. The team Pep Guardiola has inherited has the ability to not only outmaneuver their opposition, but steam roll them too. And what’s worrying for most of Europe is the Bundesliga has more teams like them. Bayern are not unique. It’s a quality that’s going to maintain Germany’s strength in the years to come and now, in the immediate future, it’s one that ensures the Bundesliga is a league as physically tough as they come.

1st: Premier League (England)
Supporters of clubs in the English top flight will always claim the league is Europe’s toughest. The days of boggy pitches and football hard men are over in England. The cosmopolitan nature of English football has helped put an end to that, with more focus on actually playing the game than intimidating the opponent being introduced in the past couple of decades. The league has flourished as a result, but the physical demand still remains no less. It’s just present in a different way. Whether it’s the traditional importance of cup competitions or the grueling Christmas period that can see clubs play three games in a little over five days while the rest of Europe’s footballers have their feet up, the Premier League asks questions like no other. The schedule is unrelenting. English football is played at a relentless pace, too, with fans paying their money to witness end-to-end action and goal-mouth drama that even the finest imports have struggled to cope with in the past. The Premier League either makes a player or breaks him, to which many global stars can testify. It may not be as brutal as the past, but physically tough it sure is.