Why don't european soccer leagues have playoffs?

Like the english premier league. I mean whats so fun if half of the teams are removed from title contention by mid-season and the title is clinched by a team with still a month left to play. Plus why isn't there any salary cap in the leagues...so it's like manchester united and chelsea are like the new york yankees of epl, same with barca and real madrid for the spainish league. Other teams in those leagues will they ever have a chance to compete?