It doesn’t take a genius to realise that the Premier League has slipped behind its competition when it comes to the standard of play.
Between 2005 and 2012, an English team appeared in seven of the eight Champions League finals, with both Manchester United and Chelsea representing the Premier League in the 2007-08 final.
But Chelsea’s victory in 2012 is the last time an English club has reached the final two and in last year’s competition, none of the four teams that qualified for the competition managed to make the semi-final.
While England’s threat has dwindled, Spain, just like it did in the 1950s, have dominated the tournament, producing a winner in each of the past four seasons.
Real Madrid became the first club to retain the trophy in June, while Barcelona won it for the fifth time in 2014-15, and having players as good as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi has certainly helped.
Premier League clubs have attempted to rectify the situation the best way they know how - by chucking money at players.
It’s left England’s top flight with an array of top players, but they’re still behind their La Liga counterparts in FIFA 18.
Yet the margin isn’t quite as big as you might expect. GiveMeSport has compiled a Premier League XI with an overall 88 rating - just two behind the best La Liga XI.
Premier League XI (3-5-2) | Overall rating: 88
David de Gea | GK | Manchester United | 90
Toby Alderweireld | CB | Tottenham Hotspur | 86
David Luiz | CB | Chelsea | 85
Jan Vertonghen | CB | Tottenham Hotspur | 85
Kevin de Bruyne | RM | Manchester City | 89
N’Golo Kante | CM | Chelsea | 87
Paul Pogba | CM | Manchester United | 87
Eden Hazard | LM | Chelsea | 90
Mesut Ozil | CAM | Arsenal | 88
Zlatan Ibrahimovic | ST | Manchester United | 88
Sergio Aguero | ST | Manchester City | 89
La Liga XI (4-3-3) | Overall rating: 90
GK | Jan Oblak | Atletico Madrid | 88
RB | Dani Carvajal | Real Madrid | 84
CB | Sergio Ramos | Real Madrid | 90
CB | Diego Godin | Atletico Madrid | 88
LB | Marcelo | Real Madrid | 87
CM | Luka Modric | Real Madrid | 89
CM | Toni Kroos | Real Madrid | 90
CM | Andres Iniesta | Barcelona | 87
RW | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 93
ST | Luis Suarez | Barcelona | 92
LW | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid 94
The talent is clearly present in the Premier League. It’s only when clubs build squads as well-rounded as Real Madrid and Barcelona’s that they will begin to challenge the Spanish giants in Europe.