What Leagues Cup could look like if copied by foreign leagues
The Leagues Cup has brought a sense of fresh air to Major League Soccer and its ‘rivalry’ against Liga MX in an unprecedented format. The Mexican league often took the top spot in both quality of play and popularity in the United States. However, strictly for on-the-field product, viewers seldom got the chance to see what the two go head to head.
The Leagues Cup did something unseen in the soccer world. It took two entirely separate leagues and put each team into one competition. Even the worst teams in MLS or Liga MX had the chance to win the competition. A three-team round-robin format ensured that each club at least had a chance, even if they played one bad game. The results have been fascinating with games that provided some stellar moments.
Lionel Messi’s debut with Inter Miami and his game-winning stoppage-time free kick against Liga MX side Cruz Azul certainly helped bring attention. But, that has just been one moment. Monterrey overturned a two-goal deficit after just six minutes to defeat the Seattle Sounders, 4-2. That game featured two recent CONCACAF Champions League winners. Or, Brandon Vazquez’s hat trick in the matchup of two league-leading clubs took headlines. He helped FC Cincinnati defeat Chivas, 3-1. That was an incredibly long game that featured an overnight rain delay.
Even for casual fans, the Leagues Cup has been enticing. It begs the question of what a Leagues Cup format can bring to other leagues. The UEFA Champions League, for example, already pits some of the best clubs against one another. However, one domestic league pairing up with another for this hypothetical tournament can yield some great fixtures.
Taking the Leagues Cup to other parts of the world
Premier League and LaLiga
Any league matching up against the Premier League in a hypothetical Leagues Cup would be a challenge. The English top flight outspends every other league in the world by some margin. However, if any club can compete against that purchasing power, it would be LaLiga. Much of that simply comes down to Real Madrid, Barcelona and occasionally Atletico Madrid. Even then, Real Madrid ranks fourth in summer spending in 2023 among European clubs. Barcelona’s financial woes have seen next to no spending on transfer fees and Atletico Madrid barely tops $30 million.
The Premier League, on the other hand, has seven clubs that have spent just less or more than $100 million this summer. Notably, that does not include Manchester City.
Of course, Manchester City would be the biggest contender in this LaLiga vs. Premier League competition. The recent treble winners would likely obliterate its group stage foes. However, it would be fun to see City take on Barcelona or Real Madrid among fellow English giants in the latter stages of the competition.
What makes this potential tournament stand out is what happens in the middle of the pack. Spanish teams have a knack for cup competitions. Sevilla’s dominance in the Europa League brought recent wins against Liverpool in 2015/16. Then, in 2020/21, Villarreal defeated Manchester United in the Europa League Final. Atletico Madrid also has a recent Europa League back in 2017/18. En route to its title, Atletico defeated Arsenal in the semifinals. These potentially forgotten foes could be a major hurdle in one-off games for some of England’s dominant sides.
Brasileirao and Argentine Primera
Brazil and Argentina already have a long-standing rivalry. The international duels between the two regularly force all sorts of drama. Then, the club interactions are no different. Clubs from the Brasileirao and the Argentine Primera are unmatched in their continental success in South America. Combined, Brazilian and Argentine clubs have 47 Copa Libertadores crowns. Other nations have a combined 16.
The potential matchups in this potential Leagues Cup are rife with history. Boca Juniors, River Plate, Estudiantes and Independiente highlight some of the biggest clubs out of Argentina. On the other side, Brazil has a number of top-tier clubs to choose from. Santos, Corinthians, Sao Paulo, Palmeiras, Gremio, Flamengo, Cruzeiro and Atletico Mineiro are some of the clubs that would be competing.
Seven of the Copa Libertadores Finals since 2000 featured a Brazilian club against an Argentine club. More occasions pit two Brazilian clubs against one another, including the last three finals.
Argentina and Brazil regularly export so much young talent to Europe. Perhaps the opportunity for another continental competition could help the talent pool in South America grow even further.
Serie A and Bundesliga
Ignoring the constant battles among Europe’s elite, a Leagues Cup between the Bundesliga and Serie A would specialize in those under-the-radar battles. Granted, Bayern Munich is the hypothetical favorite each time this competition would begin. Perhaps Juventus’s play in the mid-2010s could compete, as the Old Lady reached two Champions League Finals in 2015 and 2017.
However, the matchups elsewhere would be fascinating. Borussia Dortmund is a natural matchup for clubs like Milan, Inter Milan or this reformed Napoli side. If Roma were to play Bayer Leverkusen, that would create a matchup between Xabi Alonso and Jose Mourinho. These two clubs met in the Europa League semifinal, which led to drama and a one-goal victory on aggregate for Roma.
A matchup between Freiburg and Atalanta would be ideal for the contemporary soccer fan, as both have had strong seasons in the last several years given their comparatively low budgets. Even then, the history of other clubs provides intrigue.
Also, this would greatly help these two leagues compete against the Premier League. A European competition like this would draw in millions of viewers. Many of those would be from the United States, as players have moved in bulk to Italy and Germany this summer.
Strictly hypothetical
Many of these matchups are intriguing and they would pull in a global audience. To be fair, we do get many of these in European competitions, as seen in recent seasons. FIFA, given its desire for profits, could see these smaller competitions as a benefit. Even though it has a local element to it, some of these competitions using a Leagues Cup format would rival those intercontinental competitions.
The only issue is that there is next to no time available in these leagues’ calendars. As of now, top-flight clubs in Europe have just a few months off between their busy club calendars. International duty and preseason tours then occupy around a month or two depending on the player. That leaves just a few weeks for players to actually have any time off and to recuperate. As seen with the Leagues Cup between MLS and Liga MX, the domestic leagues had to take a monthlong hiatus. That would not go over very well in the Premier League or Serie A, which are already overbooked.