For the first time in nine years, the Premier League had no representatives in the semi-finals of the Champions League or Europa League, as Arsenal, Man City, Liverpool and West Ham fell.
Since the 1999-2000 season, there have only been three times when England have not had a representative in this round of the two major UEFA tournaments, in 2003, 2015 and 2024. The Premier League has only one team left playing in Europe, Aston Villa in the Conference League - UEFA's third tier and has only been through three seasons.
Alexis Mac Allister (left) and Luis Diaz share their sadness after Liverpool's match against Atalanta at Gewiss Stadium, Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy, in the second leg of the Europa League quarter-finals on the evening of April 18, 2024. Photo: Reuters
In 2003, Real Madrid defeated Man Utd 6-5 in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, while Liverpool lost 1-3 to Celtic in the UEFA Cup - the precursor to the Europa League. By 2015, no English representative had even reached the quarter-finals of either the Champions League or the Europa League.
This season, Man Utd and Newcastle are both bottom of their Champions League group, while Man City and Arsenal were knocked out of the quarterfinals by Real Madrid and Bayern respectively. In the Europa League, Brighton were eliminated by Roma in the round of 16, while Liverpool and West Ham fell to Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen in the quarterfinals on the evening of April 18. Italy and Germany are likely to win the five spots in next season's Champions League, not England.
The failure of English football this season is considered a shock, according to the BBC . "The Premier League, with its billion-dollar clubs, has become stronger and stronger over the years, and no one disputes that this is the number one national championship in Europe," the newspaper wrote. "Ten of the 12 most expensive player transfers in the world since 2020 have been to English clubs. The remaining two cases are also English players, with Harry Kane from Tottenham to Bayern Munich, and Jude Bellingham from Dortmund to Real."
Over the past 10 years, 13 English clubs have been among the world’s top 20 net spenders. Even mid-table clubs like Everton, Crystal Palace and Bournemouth (average $394 million) have spent more than European giants Bayern and Real ($355 million). In other financial metrics like wage bill and revenue, the Premier League is unrivalled.
Five years ago, the Champions League featured an all-English final between Liverpool and Tottenham. Three of the last five champions have come from the Premier League, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City. The financial clout of the competition has increased during the Covid-19 pandemic, but not in line with its success on the European stage.
British media believe that part of the reason lies in... finance. UEFA currently stipulates that a club cannot have accumulated losses of more than $130 million over three consecutive seasons. Therefore, teams like Newcastle cannot spend money like before, even with a wealthy owner from Saudi Arabia. Everton and Nottingham Forest have also been deducted points in the Premier League for financial violations.
BBC football expert John Murray said the results of English football in Europe this season have been shocking. "Financial regulations have forced English clubs to tighten their belts this season," he said. "Maybe because of that, the teams are not as strong as they used to be."
Journalist Guillem Balague, however, believes that the reason lies in the harshness of the Premier League, such as the tight schedule and the high level of competition between domestic teams. "We will have to wait five years to see whether English football will be affected by financial regulations," Balague added. "I don't think so. Next season, English football will return to its original position. This season's results are just an accident."
Xuan Binh
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