The old cliché always does my head in. Most EPL followers hold the view that it is the toughest league in the world and the other leagues are simply a walkover for a select few clubs.
Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, PSG?? Couldn’t be bothered, they play in easy leagues. Messi, Neymar, Lewandowski?? Would they really look that good on a cold, wet, windy night at Stoke on Trent?? No ways, they’re all prancing weaklings anyways.
I have always held the view that these elite club and their players would easily adapt to the EPL through sheer class and skill level but here is what Gerard Pique has to say about it:
“I think that if Barcelona or Real Madrid goes to the Premier League then the first year of playing there, there is no chance of winning it. I think this is because if you go to Stoke, or other types of teams, then it will be really tough.”
He goes on to make a vice versa comparison about Chelsea or Manchester United doing the same in Spain but this statement got me thinking anyways.
Suarez, Di Maria, Schweinsteiger, Ronaldo – all these players have also mentioned that the difficulty level is higher in the EPL. This is also illustrated by the fact that Real Madrid and Barcelona have always been happy to spend top dollar on the best EPL players (Bale, Modric, Suarez, Ronaldo) and the results have been more than spectacular while buying players from Spain seems to hold an element of risk. Di Maria was a disaster, Pedro has a lot of work to do to adapt, Ozil took a while to truly adjust while Sanchez is the outlier with his brilliant performances from the go.
Many have used this same cliché as an argument against Messi in the ol “Messi vs Ronaldo” debate as well.
Can they do it on a cold rainy night at Stoke??