Two European football giants, Bayern Munich (pictured below) and Chelsea (pictured bottom), will meet for the UEFA Champions League final this Saturday evening (May 19) in Munich. The match, pitting two of the biggest football nations, brings to the fore the power struggle we have seen between Germany's Bundesliga and England's Premier League, and between two economic powerhouses.

Back in 2009, we identified the Bundesliga as the main challenger to overtake the Premier League as the dominating force in European football. Our 2010 football sustainability study further demonstrated the strength of the Bundesliga model against the other major leagues. The recent record media deal signed with Sky is a clear confirmation of what we predicted at the time.

The Spanish Liga is currently battling with over €1 billion (£800.25 million/$1.3 billion) tax and national insurance debt without accounting for the late payment of salaries. Italian club losses continue, increasing to a staggering €285 million (£227.7 million/$365.03 million) for last season. Eight top English clubs are reported to be under investigation by tax probes. With an anaemic transfer market, French clubs have lost a large part of the windfall from transfers to other European leagues. Across the smaller leagues, such as Scotland and Switzerland, several once-famous teams, including Glasgow Rangers and Servette Geneva, are in or close to bankruptcy.