Domestic pressure led English clubs to crash out of Europe
For the first time in four years, there will be no English clubs in a major European cup final, a collective failure that inevitably leads to thoughts of decline and mismanagement, provoking debate about the reasons why.
There might not be anything to worry about. After all, by the very nature of knockout football, the best teams do not always win. That is the enduring beauty of it.
Few would argue against the view that Manchester City were the superior side over two legs of their quarter-final against Real Madrid, only to lose in a penalty shoot-out. Indeed, if we remove our nationalist spectacles, it is important for the overall health, intrigue and entertainment of European football if English clubs are not omnipresent in the latter stages of all three continental cups.
Plenty of supporters and administrators will be delighted that the Premier League’s participants have fared so badly. German and Italian clubs comfortably collected more coefficient points and will therefore receive an extra Champions League place next season.
Perhaps the problem is a simple one – the Premier League has become a victim of its own success. The league has become so rich, so strong, that its competitiveness has become its undoing. When the overall strength of the competition means there are no easy games, regardless of relative league position, the demands are huge from August to May.
The Premier League is not just the richest league in the world, it is the envy of it, too. It is the mostwatched domestic football competition because of the intensity of its matches and the drama it brings.
And thanks to its lucrative television deals, both domestic and international, the Premier League has the greatest concentration of talent on the planet. With the odd exception, every team has a world-class player or two and all are filled with senior internationals.
When this is combined with a fixture list more gruelling than any other, fatigue has clearly been an issue for Premier League participants this season. It takes so much out of teams to win domestic games, especially towards the business end of the campaign, that they are drained for midweek European fixtures.
The draw has also been unkind. Had City avoided Real Madrid in the quarter-final, you would imagine they would be facing each other in the final at Wembley for a start.
Newcastle United played their first Champions League games for 20 years and were paired with eventual semi-finalists Paris Stgermain and finalists Borussia Dortmund in the group stage.
West Ham, the reigning European Conference League champions, were drawn against unbeaten
Bayer Leverkusen in the quarterfinals of the Europa League.
When Liverpool were beaten by Atalanta in the quarter-final of the Europa League, they were involved in a heavyweight three-way tussle for the title with Arsenal and City. Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola’s sides exited Europe when they knew any slip-up in the Premier League was likely to cost them the title. Aston Villa are battling to secure a top-four finish.
This is important when you contrast it with the other major European leagues, where the champions were all decided weeks ago. It has allowed their European cup contenders to put everything into those games. In England, so much rides on every Premier League game that the pressure has been relentless. It creates great drama and generates excitement. It is why the Premier League is the best, strongest and most popular to watch. But that status may well have come at a price, at least this season.
In truth, we do not know if we need to be worried or merely irritated that this time, the English clubs have come up short in Europe.