SOCCER TOUR TO SPAIN

Barcelona and Real Madrid's sustained success is the easiest to understand. They are the two richest clubs in the world with the capacity to continually invest the world's best players. However, that also has a drip down effect that raises the standard of the league. Other clubs have the experience of facing the best in the world at least four times a season. Travelling to face the best Italy, Germany or England has to offer isn't nearly as intimidating as a visit to the Camp Nou or Santiago Bernabeu. Moreover, many fine players brought through the Barca and Real academies are squeezed out by the competition they face for places, but go onto make their name with other Spanish clubs.

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The Spanish national team's success in winning three consecutive major tournaments between 2008 and 2012 was based around the "tiki-taka" short passing style also commonly associated with Barcelona. "Football in Spain is a very technical game. The best football is here," said Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini, whose side was dumped out of the Champions League semi-finals by Real Madrid. Yet, it is the tactical variety of a number of skilled coaches that has worked for Spanish teams in European competition. Diego Simeone's Atlético Madrid couldn't be more opposed to the Barcelona-model in terms of style, but their rock-solid defensive structure has stifled Europe's best.

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Real Madrid, Sevilla and Villarreal are all deadly on the counter-attack, Athletic Bilbao - kings of the set-piece. That variation makes Spanish sides far more unpredictable than many of the European rivals. Whilst Barca and Madrid can count on their multi-million euro budgets, the rest still have to consistently sell their best players to Spain's big two, or increasingly, England's cash-rich Premier League. However, the structure of long-standing sporting directors who oversee the clubs' recruitment - even as coaches come and go - has seen Atlético and Sevilla in particular continue to thrive. Sevilla's director of football Monchi has been a target for Liverpool and Barcelona in the past given his penchant to pluck outstanding talents from Europe's lesser leagues in France, Portugal, Ukraine and even Spain's lower divisions at knockdown prices. Atlético were previously serial users of the now outlawed third party ownership system, but continue to thrive in bringing in talent from Portugal and South America thanks to close ties with Portuguese super agent Jorge Mendes.