Less than a month ago, six English teams made it to the Champions League last 16. This week, four English sides went out at that same stage. Both were a first in competition history.
Having six teams from one country in a competition named the “Champions League” makes little sense. But what does in football these days? It was an indicator of the Premier League’s apparent dominance of European football.
The last 10 days have put to bed that notion with humblings and hammerings across the board and only Arsenal and Liverpool progressing to the quarter-finals. And that was not a major achievement considering their opponents.
In this article, we’ll cover:
Two go through, four go out
You could say that of the four sides who went out, only Manchester City was a slight surprise. But the manner of the defeats was the real talking point.
Man City collapsed to a Real Madrid side shorn of Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham among others. They initially fell to a first-half Federico Valverde hat-trick in the opening leg. Then, Bernardo Silva ended any hopes of a comeback with an early red card in the second leg.
Real Madrid have now knocked Man City out of the Champions League in each of the past three seasons. And four times in five years overall.
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Chelsea appeared to have fared better against holders Paris Saint-Germain. Well, at least until the 74th minute of the first leg when Filip Jorgensen’s blunder turned the tie with the score at 2-2 in Paris. Six goals later, the Blues were dumped out and booed off at Stamford Bridge.
Newcastle United were the only English side to truly impress in the first legs. They were only denied a famous win over Barcelona by a last-minute Lamine Yamal penalty.
That continued in Camp Nou on Wednesday night, until another Yamal penalty at the end of the first half completed shifted the game. The Magpies fell apart after the break. They conceded four quickfire goals to lose 7-2 in a record European defeat for the club. In could be their last Champions League appearance for a while.
Somehow, Tottenham Hotspur came out of the last 16 as only the fourth-most embarrasing English club. And they even had some credit to their name. Who would have thought that after Antonin Kinsky’s horror show at the Wanda Metropolitano in the first leg?
Igor Tudor got his first win as Tottenham manager in the second leg. And it could prove pivotal in Spurs’ fight for Premier League survivial. A 7-5 aggregate defeat to Atletico Madrid is the least of their concerns right now.
Across the 12 games, English clubs let in a staggering 30 goals — with only Arsenal and Liverpool shining with one conceded apiece.
Factors or excuses?
A series of factors and/or excuses have been cited in the Champions League post-mortem. Comparative league competitiveness, schedule, fatigue, form and style of play are just a few.
All are valid to a point, with the Premier League definitely tougher week on week than the other top European leagues. The presence of six English sides in the last 16 tells you that.
But does this, as well as the absence of a winter break, act as a major hindrance? German, French and Spanish sides all benefit from a break. It didn’t seem to matter a few years ago, when there were two all-English finals and a Premier League team in all but one of six finals between 2018 and 2023.
Nor in the mid-to-late 2000s when Manchester United and Liverpool won the competition and made two finals apiece while Arsenal and Chelsea competed in their first-ever finals.
This was also an era in which the English sides didn’t have financial dominance over most of Europe as they do now.
Perhaps more questions should be pointed at recruitment. Newcastle spent over £100m on two strikers in the summer but neither started against Barcelona.
Back in their place and back to the drawing board
The style of play in the Premier League is super athletic, but a bit primitive. Especially compared to the technical brilliance of Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and PSG.
The likes of Yamal, Vinicius Jr and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia among otthers are a cut above the best of the Premier League right now. Not to mention Mbappe and Harry Kane.
For all the financial might of the English clubs, they still trail these four clubs in all the relevant money lists. As well as in their ability to attract the very best players in the world.
The Premier League might be the best league in the world. But, with the exception of Arsenal, it does not have the best teams. Instead of championing six teams in the last 16, no finalist in the last two years is the more telling statistic.
Will that become three this year? Regardless, it’s back to drawing board for the Premier League having been put in their place by the established European order.