Football is full of longstanding debates, one of them being over which domestic league is the strongest in the world.

Every season the Premier League and La Liga are rightfully acknowledged as the two standout contenders.

With the likes of Mohamed Salah, Kevin De Bruyne, Lionel Messi and Luka Modric plying their trade in the England and Spain respectively, the two top-flights are difficult to separate in terms of overall quality.

A friendly between two all-star teams would go a long way towards helping us pick a winner, but even then football fans would probably continue squabbling.

But until the governing bodies of English and Spanish football make that happen, we’ll have to improvise.

To that end, YouTuber Rich Leigh has called on FIFA 20 to weigh in on the debate.

He’s assembled a Premier League XI and La Liga XI and pitted them against each other over two legs to see how things play out on the latest edition of the acclaimed football sim.

Here’s how the two teams line up, both in a 4-3-3 formation:

Premier League XI

  • GK: Alisson
  • RB: Kyle Walker
  • CB: Virgil van Dijk
  • CB: Aymeric Laporte
  • LB: Andrew Robertson
  • CM: N’Golo Kante
  • CM: Paul Pogba
  • CAM: Kevin De Bruyne
  • RW: Mohamed Salah
  • LW: Raheem Sterling
  • ST: Sergio Aguero

La Liga XI

  • GK: Jan Oblak
  • RB: Dani Carvajal
  • CB: Gerard Pique
  • CB: Sergio Ramos
  • LB: Jordi Alba
  • CM: Sergio Busquets
  • CM: Luka Modric
  • CAM: Antoine Griezmann
  • RW: Lionel Messi
  • LW: Eden Hazard
  • ST: Luis Suarez

With both teams controlled by the computer, the quality of the first match didn’t match that of the two squads going head-to-head.

There were few clear-cut chances as Messi went closest to breaking the deadlock via an unorthodox volleyed lob from a tight angle.

Rather incredibly, neither side could find the net and the first leg ended 0-0.

The second leg was more exciting with Alisson and Oblak forced to make brilliant saves in the first 45 minutes.

Griezmann hit the post with a long-range strike in the closing stages of the first half, but it was Sergio Aguero who eventually opened the scoring.

The Argentine turned Pique with a nice piece of skill inside the box before blasting a ferocious shot into the far corner.

The La Liga XI did their best to return fire and despite creating some decent chances to pull level, the final whistle blew with the score at 1-0 to the Premier League XI.

So, it seems FIFA 20 thinks the Premier League is the strongest division in world football - even if only by a whisker.