Who is better - Rosenborg or Minnesota United?

There is a new top level sports team coming to Minnesota. Minnesota United will begin their first season of MLS soccer with a match in Portland against the Timbers. The team has spent the last several months attempting to put together a roster good enough to compete with the teams they will face at the top level of American soccer. 

It turns out, most people don't think they have done a perfect job of that. They are dead last in MLS' own proprietary power rankings. 

The other summer league team that I follow closely is, of course, Norway's Rosenborg BK. They will start in April, defending their Eliteserien title. Rosenborg is the class of Norwegian football, and lost 3 games in each of the past two years. They also managed to win the Norwegian Cup, and though they have struggled in Europe, their repeat trip their ensures a better draw for the coming Champions League qualifiers.

So who is better? That's a tough question, but one that might be best answered by Vadim Demidov, new Minnesota United center back. He was recently elected captain for the coming team. Demidov spent his younger years manning the same position, though not as captain, with Rosenborg. In Minnesota, he is a surefire starter and an anchor of the back line. With Rosenborg, he was about to reach the crest of his career arc, on his way to play in Spain, Germany and Russia. Now in Minnesota, he returns after another spell in Norway, but on a clear downward trend. Rosenborg know what Demidov has to offer, and passed on bringing him back. The Loons made him the captain.

But it's more basic than that. If the MLS was a European league, it would probably be somewhere between 10-15th ranked in UEFA. Norway is 18th. It is not hard to imagine that the very best team in the 18tth best league is better than the worst in the 10th or 15th best leaguee. 

Yes, the Loons have a higher ceiling when they get a new stadium, and start rolling in the money brought by MLS TV contracts, but for right now, and perhaps for a few more years, my Norwegian object of adoration is going to be the better team.