What is the best league in the world?
It’s a debate that rages on among fans.
The Premier League is regarded the most competitive, La Liga historically has the best teams in Barcelona and Real Madrid, Bundesliga is arguably the most technical, Serie A has the best defenders, while Ligue 1 has Paris Saint-Germain.
We can only really look to the Champions League to compare leagues. And in the last three seasons, we’ve had a winner from Spain, a winner from England and a winner from Germany.
There’s one other way we can compare the quality of each major league - by looking at the best players in each league.
To do so, Marca have identified the most valuable XI in each league and worked out how expensive they are.
Let’s take a look at each one:
PREMIER LEAGUE - Value: £952.6m
The most valuable Premier League XI is by far more expensive than any other league. Liverpool and Manchester City players dominate with Raheem Sterling being the most expensive at around £118 million.
LA LIGA - £725.5m
Only Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid players feature in the most valuable La Liga XI. A 33-year-old Lionel Messi is still the most expensive at £103.3 million.
BUNDESLIGA - £646.1m
This is just Bayern Munich’s XI with Jadon Sancho and Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund. Not even room for Robert Lewandowski. This may not be the most expensive XI but they would take some beating!
SERIE A - £635.5m
Les than £10 million less than the Bundesliga's XI is Serie A’s XI. Like the Premier League, it features players from five different team - four from Inter, three from Juventus, two from AC Milan, one from Lazio and one from Napoli.
LIGUE 1 - £630.3m
Despite having the two most expensive players in football history, Ligue 1’s most valuable XI is the least expensive of Europe’s major leagues. The team features eight Paris Saint-Germain players - including £165.7m Kylian Mbappe - and three from Lyon.
