By Luis Bueno – RIVERSIDE, CA (Dec 17, 2014) US Soccer Players – Push came to shove between Liga MX and Spain’s La Liga this week and when the dust settled there wasn’t much of a fight to judge after all. Real Madrid’s thrashing of Cruz Azul in the FIFA Club World Cup perhaps was not surprising but the manner in which it went down was startling, if nothing else.
Every time a ball got past Cruz Azul’s Jesus Corona, it punctuated the large gap that exists between Liga MX clubs and the world’s elite leagues. Liga MX is the top league in CONCACAF, may be the top in the Western Hemisphere, but is not anywhere near the world’s upper crust.
But that’s okay. Trying to compare a league’s strength against Real Madrid is almost as daunting a task as Cruz Azul faced before their ill-fated meeting. Real Madrid have a bottomless pit of cash while Cruz Azul, like most other clubs around the world, have an actual budget to work with.
Still, it’s that ability that Real Madrid has that separates the two leagues. Real Madrid and La Liga rivals Barcelona have an embarrassment of riches. Atletico Madrid is getting there as well. More La Liga teams are buyers than sellers and not afraid to dole out large sums of cash for top international talent.
Liga MX on the other hand does not have a Real Madrid equivalent. Club America may fancy themselves as such but at best las Aguilas are a poor hombre’s version of the Madridistas. Club America does regularly snatch up domestic talent such as newly-signed players Dario Benedetto and Christian Pellerano from Club Tijuana and Carlos Darwin Quintero from Santos Laguna. America announced those signings the day after winning the Liga MX title.
Club America is still an exporter on the global scale. The club sent top prospect Raul Jimenez to Atletico Madrid in the summer, sending him along to a richer and more powerful club.
America though would have been a much better rival for Real Madrid. While they may not have beaten them, America would have put on a better show and offered more competition. Cruz Azul won just five of 17 regular-season matches this season and missed out on the playoffs. America went 9-4-4, finishing first in the regular season and claimed a Mexican-league record 12th championship.
Cruz Azul, though, are a strong representative of what Liga MX clubs have to offer. La Maquina feature a mix of current and former Mexican National Team talents (Gerardo Torrado, Francisco Javier “Maza” Rodriguez, Pablo Barrera) and top international talent (Christian Gimenez, Hernan Bernardello, Joao Rojas).
On the pitch, though, Cruz Azul were no match. Real Madrid’s ridiculously talented roster tore apart La Maquina’s defenders and left them in tatters. All four goals came from close range as players like Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema made Cruz Azul’s players look like U14 talent.
Perhaps some day, a Mexican club will come in on astronomical form and a masterful game plan against a less-than-excited European rival in the Club World Cup and pull off a stunning upset. Until then, Liga MX can continue to dominate MLS and the rest of the region in the CONCACAF Champions League. They can threaten to and contend for a Copa Libertadores title while watching young talented Mexicans flock to European leagues, making El Tri stronger.
Liga MX may not be among the world’s best leagues, but its current standing is more than good enough.
Luis Bueno is a veteran soccer writer. Follow him on twitter @BuenoSoccer.
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