Guillem Balague launches impassioned defence of La Liga

Martin Macdonald

11 Apr 2026 05:30 CDT
3 min read

Renowned Spanish football journalist Guillem Balague has launched a passionate defence of La Liga on social media.

Over the last 10 years, a narrative has gathered pace that the Premier League is the undisputed 'best in the world' domestic competition due to its financial might.

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Yes, the English top flight may have ludicrously large broadcast deals compared to other leagues and yes, it may have had six teams in this season's Champions League, but Balague believes La Liga to be superior in other ways.

"Remember the following next time someone tells you La Liga is behind.... La Liga just showed us its 24/25 numbers," he wrote on social media.

"A record €5.464 billion in total revenue. A record 17.4 million fans in grounds. €70 million profit before tax. Squad costs held at 70% of income. A league that lives within its means, but also one that is growing as well."

One of the main reasons La Liga is superior to the Premier League, according to Balague, is the opportunities given to young players.

"Here’s what really doesn’t get said enough, although it might not be fully surprising. La Liga leads Europe in academy player market value," he continued.

"€1.46 billion. Ahead of the Premier League. Those players represent 26.6% of LaLiga’s total market value. In England? 9.7%.

"La Liga academy players play nearly 20% of all minutes in the league. In England, 13.5%. This is a league that develops talent, trusts it, and builds on it. 91% of those academy players are Spanish.

For teams within the Premier League in 2024/25, only two turned a profit - Liverpool and Bournemouth. Average losses for clubs were £31.1 million in the Premier League.

Since the inception of the Premier League in 1992, the football clubs involved in the competition have suffered nearly £5 billion in cumulative losses.

Although the English top-flight is a money-making behemoth, the debts that clubs have run up since its inception are tremendous.

"The Premier League is a financial phenomenon," Balague adds.

"Of course it is, no one is pretending otherwise. But it spends more than double what it earns. Has been doing so for seven years. That should be worrying.

"A league that turns a profit, fills its stadiums, and leads Europe in growing its own? It sounds to me like it is a good way to run football."

The Spaniard did recognise areas in which La Liga needs to do better, including the continued fight against racism:

"Things to improve: refereeing, VAR, the behaviour of fans (LaLiga has been fighting racism and discrimination, but even more has to be done), the departure of talent, more women involved in decision making at all levels."

Even though the Premier League had six teams enter the Champions League at the league phase, only two remain, Arsenal and Liverpool.

However, the Reds face an uphill battle to qualify for the semi-final after losing the first leg of their quarter-final tie against Paris Saint-Germain 2-0.

While Premier League sides make more than any other clubs in the world due to broadcasting revenue, they are still spending like never before, with wage bills exceeding 90% of revenue in some cases, while La Liga has a squad salary cap in place to prevent teams from overspending on salaries.

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