No winter break ... it’s enough to make a Prem manager scream
IF you have heard it said once, you have heard it said a thousand times – the Premier League is the best domestic football competition in the world.
Well, we will see about that over the next few months.
With a five-strong representation in the last 16, the chances of a England’s barren five-season Champions League run coming to an end would appear to be high.
And in Manchester City, we boast what bookmakers would have us believe are the competition favourites.
I don’t see how City’s odds can be shorter than Barcelona’s but there is no doubting they have a very decent chance of going all the way, particularly if they can get the Premier League wrapped up in double-quick time.
But ahead of its resumption, those Premier League managers with Champions League business on the agenda will be forming an orderly queue to tell you why it is going to be so tough for one of them to achieve ultimate success. And they will have a point.
Firstly, an insular obsession with the Premier League means the quality of continental opposition remains criminally underrated.
On the shortlist of 30 for last season’s Ballon d’Or, the Premier League provided seven nominees (one of whom has since moved to Barcelona) while La Liga had 11.
The European powerhouses are all in ominous form. Ahead of this weekend’s fixtures, Barcelona were nine points clear at the top of La Liga, Bayern Munich held an 18-point advantage in the Bundesliga and Paris Saint-Germain were 11 points to the good in Ligue 1. These are formidable teams.
But, according to the likes of Jose Mourinho in particular, one of the @JesseLingard “A member of my media team inadvertently replied to a tweet this afternoon on my twitter profile during the Munich memorial service at Old Trafford. … this is totally unacceptable and does not reflect my personality or views on this emotional day.” main obstacles in a Premier League team’s way is fatigue brought on by a lack of a winter break. Indeed, according to Gareth Bale, a three-time Champions League winner, it is the fundamental reason why English clubs have not even reached a final since Chelsea lifted the trophy by beating Bayern Munich on penalties in 2012. Since the last round of Champions League group games, English clubs have had a relatively heavy winter workload. By the time the first leg of their ties come along, Tottenham will have played three more games than Juventus in that period, Manchester City five more than FC Basel and Chelsea three more than Barcelona. Sevilla and Manchester United, and Liverpool and Porto, will have played the same number of games. No one will have more miles on the clock in the last two months than the English teams.
The suggestion the Premier League might consider a staggered winter break is an age overdue.
And in the meantime, maybe they might plead with the TV companies to whom they have sold their soul to give them just a little bit of a helping hand now and again.
Ahead of their trip to Turin, Spurs played yesterday while Juventus played on Friday evening.
Liverpool do not face Porto until Wednesday but, even so, does their game at Southampton really need to be at 4.30pm on Sunday?
Ahead of the second leg of their tie with Basel, City play late on Sunday while the Swiss play on Saturday.
The knockout stages again might show that the standard of Premier League football is not as wonderful as many think. It might also show our clubs are up against the odds before those stages even start.