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It has been a strange season in Spanish football as both Barcelona and Real Madrid are experiencing down years, but Atlético Madrid manager Diego Simeone has seized on the opportunity to win a second LaLiga title for his club.

For a long stretch of the season, Atlético was nearly unbeatable. Following a pair of nil-nil draws early in the campaign, Simeone's side won 15 of 16 league games — the only misstep a 2-0 defeat to crosstown rival Real Madrid. This put the club 11 points clear at the top of LaLiga.

Americans have a long, but not necessarily impressive, history of playing soccer in Europe.

John Harkes was the first American to play in the English Premier League when he debuted for Sheffield Wednesday in 1991. Since then, many Americans have tested their mettle in England, yet very few have delivered truly impressive seasons. 

Tim Howard was one of the better goalkeepers in the Premier League for a decade, Brad Friedel's Premier League run extended even longer, while Clint Dempsey and Brian McBride both had their share of impressive seasons.

Football was changed forever in the 1950's by a man named Charles Reep, a retired Wing Commander from the British Royal Air Force. After watching and meticulously analyzing hundreds of soccer games, Reep came to the conclusion that the majority of goals in soccer come from moves of three passes or fewer.

This simple deduction shaped British football from that point on, changing it from a game based on individual dribbling ability and guile into a long ball jamboree and war of field position. Thus, England became a country known for aerial duels and rough and tumble soccer.

Memories of the Premier League 10-15 years ago conjure up very specific visions, with the nostalgia usually centering around someone hitting the piss out of a classic Nike ball.

No 2000s soccer mixtape was complete without some random gangly defender hitting a 40-yard rocket to the top corner, Wayne Rooney burying a dipping half-volley or a center midfielder charging forward and doing unspeakable things to a one-touch shot from long range.

Not long ago, the American soccer landscape was a barren wasteland devoid of talent. Americans either played for boring MLS teams or obscure European clubs, always moving laterally and rarely improving.

Kids these days have Christian Pulisic at Chelsea and Sergiño Dest at Barcelona. We had a promising central defender at Birmingham City that now works at a financial company. Man, they have it easy.

While the Premier League is ascribed to be the most talented league in the world, the EFL Championship might be as difficult, if not more so, than the English top flight.

In terms of talent, the Championship is just a small step below the Premier League and there is little disparity between the top and bottom of the table. 23rd place Birmingham has beaten second place Brentford and fifth place Reading this season, while Derby County beat Norwich then went winless for two months and dropped to the bottom of the table. 

If you're looking to watch some high-scoring, fast-kicking Premier League football, then Burnley probably isn't the side for you.

Led by Sean "The Ginger Mourinho" Dyche, Burnley has averaged almost exactly a goal per game during its previous five seasons in the Premier League, scoring as few as 28 goals during their relegation campaign in 2014-15.

This season though, Burnley's disdain for attacking football is approaching record levels.

With Super Bowl Sunday approaching and the UEFA Champions League knockout stage just around the corner, it's time to make a definitive comparison of two of the most popular sporting competitions in the world.

Using advanced analysis, statistical comparison and cross-sport know-how, we will determine once and for all which competition is more difficult to win: the UEFA Champions League or the National Football League's Super Bowl.