Spanish La-Liga: D-Day for Messi and Ronaldo as the fight for league title brews

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi: They are the two brightest stars in the football galaxy and yet for one of them, heartbreak awaits. For you see tonight, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, the two irremovable mountains of Spanish football, it is D-Day.

Pep Guardiola would want to rub off the disappointing loss against Inter

After what seems like endless weeks of pummeling the rest of the league into submission, it’s the penultimate round of games which could finally seal the destiny of the championship. To recap reigning champions Barca, Messi’s home since the age of 13, lead their arch rivals by a point and tonight travel to fourth placed and Champion League hopefuls Seville. Meanwhile Madrid, who smashed the world record when they shelled out a whopping 94 million Euros for Ronaldo, entertain Athletic Bilbao who are eighth and bidding for a Europa League place.

If Barca win, and Madrid slip up, then Pep Guardiola’s side will retain their titile, as they won both this season’s Classicos and head-to head separates sides if they are level on points. As both are expected to win their final games of the season, tonight’s events at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in Seville, and the Bernabeu in Madrid, will seal the leagues fate.

This season La Liga has resembled something akin to a Rocky slug-fest. Two heavyweights searching for the knockout blow while leaving the rest trailing in their wake.Third placed Valencia are a massive 24 points behind Madrid, surely not healthy for any competitive league.

But should anyone be surprised? A look at the World’s 20 Richest Clubs helps explain why the gap between the top two and the rest of Spain has gone from being a disparity to a yawning chasm.

Real Madrid and Barca are ranked 1st and 2nd with income reaching a jaw dropping 401 and 365 million Euros respectively. No other Spanish club makes the list. The reason for such disparity is largely due to the sale of TV rights. In England and Germany, the EPL and Bundesliga sell their rights collectively and the money is then distributed among all the clubs. However in Spain, Barca and Madrid negotiate their massive contracts individually which leaves the rest of the league fighting for the rest of the TV pie like two bald men over a comb.

Messi-Ronaldo: The heat is on.

So the duopoly is set to continue and while events tonight will be no doubt enthralling as the two best players in the world try and drag their respective clubs over the winning line, the claim that La Liga is the best in the world is a hollow one until the rest of Spain catches up.