El Clasico clashes with Manchester City v Liverpool - who will win out?

As El Classico clashes with the Man City v Liverpool match on Sky Sports tonight, I think it's time to ask whether the global game has taken over the Premier League.

What will you watch?

Real Madrid v Barcelona?

Man City v Liverpool?

Or take the option with Sky to watch it split screen? Is like to see a breakdown on the viewing figures.

When I was young, teams from outside of England, Scotland and Wales seemed a million miles away. Players with exotic-sounding names from different pockets of the globe has their own thing going on.

When Steve Archibald went to Barcelona, my world changed a little. He was the first top player in my memory that had made such a switch. It looked like a massive adventure that bordered on madness. Likewise for overseas players coming to the English league. Ossie Ardiles was my first memory of a player coming in the opposite direction.

Now the Premier League is awash with great players from as far and wide as Senegal, New Zealand, USA, Chile and a plethora of Spaniards, French and Dutch. There has been much lament of how this affects the England national team. But it's not the relative lack of success of the England team that worries me in this blog. It's a problem that is typified by the matches I mentioned at the top of the blog. The Premier League bills itself at different times as-

"The best league in the world"

"The most competitive league in the world"

"The most exciting league in the world"

And these have always been selling points as the league sells itself over the world for TV money. And as the Premier League loses it's standing against the big matches from other leagues and potentially losing their 4th Champions League place-

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/10005194/premier-leagues-fourth-champions-league-spot-under-threat-from-serie-a

The Premier League has grown on the back of the massive TV deal after massive TV deal and they don't expect it to stop anytime soon. But if Sky find that more people tune in for El Clasico than a top Premier League clash then they may not pay quite so much in their next deal. Broadcasters from other countries could follow suit and this will mean that the power of the Premier League wanes.

I can see this being more of a big deal for the Premier League power brokers than any loss of status for the England team.