Watching Some European Soccer Analysis on ESPN Yesterday

Yesterday I was watching a soccer show (analysis, not actual games) on ESPN.  The topic was the UEFA Champions League, where top European league teams cross their respective league boundaries and play each other, setting up intriguing speculation as to which leagues are the most competitive.  So far, teams like Bundesliga's Bayern Munich, (Barclay's) English Premier League's Chelsea, La Liga's Real Madrid and Barcelona, La Ligue's PSG (Paris-St.Germain), and other teams like Italy's Roma and Portugal's Porto are doing well (although Roma is in a very competitive group and struggling for advancement into the next "knockout" round).  Although I prefer to watch full games as they are being played, I did enjoy the highlights that this show presented...expecially the games between Manchester City and Bayern Munich, and between Barcelona and APOEL (of Cyprus).  The former, between two major league champions from last year, featured an upset comeback win for "City", while Barcelona, with its superstar lineup of Messi, Neymar, and Suarez, won easily (with Messi performing another hat trick while making it all look like a walk in the park).  It made me once again wish that I had regular access to the Bundesliga and La Liga games besides the MLS, Liga MX (Mexico), and English Premier League games that I do get.

Speaking of MLS and Liga MX, the two major soccer organizations for North America, they have features to their seasons that bother me: post-season playoffs.  It reminds me of the other sports over here like football, baseball, basketball, and hockey, where teams can clearly demonstrate their superiority (or inferiority) in the long regular season over a span of many games and then essentially have to start all over in the league championship playoffs.  I like the fact that the winner of the regular season across the Atlantic in the Premier League or Bundesliga IS the league champion...as it should be...