These days, the notion of League XIs is considered to be somewhat quaint, but there was a time when blockbuster all-star match-ups were all the rage among marketing men. In 1991, the Football League (the Premier League was just a twinkle in Rick Parry’s eye) took on Serie A at the San Paolo stadium in Naples.

The English league side featured Ian Rush, John Barnes and Anders Limpar, with Neville Southall in goal. Serie A had Careca and Marco van Basten leading the line and Lothar Matthäus, who captained Germany to victory in the 1990 World Cup, in midfield. The game finished 3-0 to Serie A and, while newspaper accounts suggest that it was an entertaining match, it spelt the end of such high-profile clashes.

It is interesting to note why we do not see such games any more (and why they never really took off). After all, if football is as driven by hype and commercialism as we are told, would such games not be a no-brainer?

Imagine Fernando Torres, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney up front, with Steven Gerrard and Cesc Fàbregas in midfield. Picture those players taking on La Liga, with Samuel Eto’o, Lionel Messi and Arjen Robben. Or Serie A with Kaká, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Gianluigi Buffon. Think of the revenues and global attention that such an extravaganza would generate. It’s enough to get anybody’s mouth watering. Or is it? Because there is very little interest in such games. If there were, you can bet the Premier League would have already been on the phone to its counterparts elsewhere.

The main hurdle is obvious. Players are employed by clubs, not leagues. Clubs barely tolerate their stars competing in international football and the last thing they want is another competitive match for which they get no economic return. What little leeway they are willing to grant is gobbled up by the national teams. Indeed, even in 1991, none of the Italy internationals participated. Nor did Diego Maradona, then of Napoli, in his club’s own stadium.

Throw in fixture congestion and the risk of injury and you would most likely get what you do at charity games: a bunch of “stars” knocking the ball about listlessly with about as much competitive spirit as you might find in a potato. To some degree, this is a problem with all-star games in every sport. They are artifices that offer little appeal to the average fan. The casual observer may get excited at seeing so many stars on one pitch at the same time, but the rank-and-file fan knows better. Because they know the game is meaningless.

And when you think about it, that is a big part of what drives us to watch in the first place. There has to be some significance. Much of it comes from the league standings, but not all of it. If it did, nobody would have turned up to watch Derby County after they were mathematically relegated last year. Nor would anybody turn up to watch those mid-table sides going nowhere late in the season. If it were just about what is at stake, who would watch Northern Ireland’s World Cup qualifiers?

No, the drive to watch comes from the sense of belonging. It is not so much that we feel we “belong” to a certain club or country (if it did, we would watch only our own team or nation), it is witnessing 11 men who belong to a unit, competing against another 11 men. If we can sense that they feel they “belong”, we feel that we are observing something that has meaning. We feel that we’re witnessing a pledge of allegiance to something – whether it’s teammates, colours, a badge or a city – that will make the spectacle worth watching. And no footballer feels a particular allegiance to the Premier League, La Liga or the Bundesliga.

Still, the notion of League XIs is an interesting one, if only because it helps to fuel the never-ending debates over which league is the strongest, as well as stoking our “Dream XI” footballing fantasies.

One Italian newspaper, Gazzetta dello Sport, realised this, which is why it set up the Christmas Cup. It is a virtual competition pitting League XIs from Europe’s top eight nations over the holiday season, with matches being decided via computer simulations (for those who care, the Premier League got off to a good start, beating the Portuguese league 3-1 with goals from Gerrard, Ronaldo and Torres).

It is a neat diversion, but nothing more. And at least it keeps League XIs where they belong: in cyberspace.

And another thing...

Tigre earn their stripes in making title race exciting

Boca Juniors won their 23rd Argentine title and they did it in the most dramatic of ways. At the end of the Apertura season, Boca, San Lorenzo and upstarts Tigre were level on points. The three clubs who were tied at the top of the league then entered a play-off for the championship.

San Lorenzo beat Tigre 2-1, only to lose to Boca 3-1. This meant that Tigre needed to beat Boca by two goals in the final match.

The underdogs ended up winning 1-0, laying siege to the Boca goal in the final seconds as they searched for their own Michael Thomas moment.

Credit Boca, but kudos to Tigre, who put together a magical – and highly improbable – campaign.

Real deal in short term

Having spent about £35 million on Lassana Diarra, the former Portsmouth midfield player, and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, the Holland forward, Real Madrid are reportedly lining up a third big signing in the January transfer period. Ángel Di MarÍa, the Argentina winger who plays for Benfica, would set Real back a further £15-20 million.

Spending in excess of £50 million in mid-season when you have no real clue who will be in charge next year (Juande Ramos signed only a six-month contract) smacks of the worst kind of short-term thinking. Unless you believe that a manager’s sole job is to work with the players he is given and that he does not deserve any real say in transfer dealings. Which has pretty much been Real’s modus operandi over the past 18 months.