Battle of the Soccer Leagues: Will the Premier League reign over La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A and more?

We've all been there, haven't we? We've all imagined best XIs for the leagues we followed, perhaps poaching stars we loathe (but grudgingly respect) from rival teams or wondering just how much better Player X would be if Player Y were pulling the strings behind him.

And would a Premier League XI really wipe the floor with everyone? Or would they invariably bow to the might of Lionel Messi and La Liga? Or the rumble of Cristiano Ronaldo and Serie A? What if you could combine the green gunslingers of Borussia Dortmund with the seasoned winners of Bayern Munich, tossing in a smattering of Kai Havertz and pinch of Timo Werner? How devastating would Kylian Mbappe and Neymar be with a supporting cast drawn from all over Ligue 1?

What of the other leagues? How does the cream of Major League Soccer stack up against the European elites? What about Liga MX? Or, indeed, Brazil's Serie A, that inexhaustible conveyor belt of talent?

Eight of us got that opportunity. Eight of us were charged with creating and turning that dream into reality -- well, FIFA 20 simulation. We got to pick our 23-man squad, just like any manager before an international tournament and figure out our best XI. There were some ground rules, of course: no more than four from any single club in the 18-man matchday squad and no more than seven from one club in the full 23-man squad. That was a way of pushing us, of forcing us to make tough choices rather than taking the easy route of picking a Liverpool- or Flamengo-based XI. It also offered a slightly better sense of a league's depth, rewarding those that are a little less top-heavy.

We didn't just pick the players, either. We chose the formation, the tactical approach, the set-piece takers, whether or not to press. By the time we got into it, we were so jazzed up I found myself giving a team talk to my laptop screen.

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It got nervy too because, fundamentally, while we're all colleagues and all respect one another, we're also competitive. Mark Ogden, in charge of the Premier League, knew everybody was gunning for him. Nicky Bandini and Sid Lowe, charged with picking the perfect supporting cast for Ronaldo and Messi respectively, sweated over their choices. Julien Laurens did most of the trash-talking and even dressed up as his alter ego, Georges Clopp (nope, me neither). Tom Marshall quietly drew up nefarious counterattacking plans based around the raw speed of Enner Valencia, and Noah Davis unearthed MLS gems. As for Gustavo Hofmann's Brasileirao, we had no idea what to expect as he channeled his inner Jorge Jesus.

Me? I went back and forth over whether there was a way to play Robert Lewandowski and Erling Haaland together, and whether Denis Zakaria was any good or whether I simply liked him because he didn't play for Dortmund or Bayern. (That limit of four from one team was a killer, like I said.)

The die is cast. The Rubicon has been crossed. We're in our groups, knowing that half of us are going home after the round-robin stage. We're not just playing for nations, we're playing for the hundreds of millions of fans around the globe who support a particular league. No pressure there then, none whatsoever.

May the Gods of the FIFA 20 code be merciful with us ... and let the Battle of the Leagues commence! -- Gab Marcotti

Jump to: The rules and format | Group A teams | Group B teams

THE RULES / THE FORMAT / HOW THIS WORKS

As Gab mentioned, the rules were strict with regard to stacking each team from the best clubs, with tournament squad and matchday restrictions on the number of players from one team forcing the managers to be creative and free-thinking in their approaches to each game.

We entered their squad selections manually to get all their chosen players into the eight squads -- managers were also allowed to pick which kit their teams played in -- and then simulated the games, computer vs. computer, for seven-minute halves to determine the winners. With eight teams, we randomly drew the two groups of four for the first stage, with everyone playing each other once. The top two in each group went through to the semifinals, with the winner of A taking on the runner-up of B and the winner of B facing the runner-up of A. Games were set to end in 90 minutes for the group stage, with extra time and penalties active for the knockout rounds.

Group A: Premier League (Mark Ogden), Major League Soccer (Noah Davis), Italian Serie A (Nicky Bandini), Liga MX (Tom Marshall)
Group B: German Bundesliga (Gab Marcotti), La Liga (Sid Lowe), Ligue 1 (Julien Laurens), Brazilian Serie A (Gustavo Hofman)

What was Gab talking about when it comes to customization? We gave the managers every possible option in the regular game mode of FIFA 20 when it came to building their teams and their tactics. They had 33 formations to choose from (the max in the regular mode; FUT formations were excluded for this tournament) as well as five clear defensive styles and four offensive styles for their teams to adopt in each game. (The managers were obviously allowed to start fresh in each game when it came to these customizations.)

The five defensive styles: Balanced (press in midfield, fairly neutral setup); Pressure on heavy touch (aggressive play high up the pitch to force turnovers); Press after losing ball (team will apply pressure for 7-8 seconds following a turnover); Constant pressure (think "heavy metal football"); and Drop back/allow opponent possession (team will sit deep and play on the counter).

(An additional customization on defense was offered for how deep they chose to defend on a 1-10 scale, with 1=deep block and 10=high line.)

The four offensive styles: Balanced (players make support runs into space as needed); Long ball (think "English football in the 1980s"); Fast build-up (quick transition and get up field as soon as possible); and Possession/slow build-up (more intricate and controlled passing to create space).

In addition, managers were able to make additional tweaks including the number of players in the box for corners and free kicks (on a 1-5 scale as in FIFA 20, with 1=fewest and 5=most) as well as the general strategy for number of players making runs into the box during open play (on a 1-10 scale, with 1=fewest and 10=most as in the game). Finally, managers got to select their set-piece takers (corner from the right, corner from the left, free kicks and penalties).

All information was entered into a Google form by each manager so nobody could see or have early access to their opponents' tactics.

Game on! -- James Tyler and Rob Moore