SIX teams flew out and only two came back, prompting waves of navel-gazing and reassessment. The Premier League is in crisis, apparently, or did its representatives just happened to come up against better opponents? Let’s consider a few things before the world’s richest league is written off; there were half a dozen teams in the last 16, but were they really Champions League quality in the first place? Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Newcastle United were clearly not and Manchester City are not the force of two years ago. The only team, in all honesty, that is rolling well at the moment is Arsenal, the Premier leaders and the league’s best performers in the Champions League in the past two seasons.
Arsenal and Liverpool comfortably beat German and Turkish opposition respectively. Three of the Premier exits were at the hands of the top Spanish teams, the other was against the holders, Paris Saint-Germain. It is hardly a catalogue of disgrace until the results are examined. Chelsea and Spurs were beaten 5-2 away from home, Newcastle were humiliated 7-2 in Barcelona and City lost twice to a fairly run-of-the-mill Real Madrid side. Five of the six played away first and with the exception of Arsenal and they made life a little difficult for themselves.
But the crisis is not necessarily at the door of the Premier as a whole, it is perhaps a reflection of the current state of the clubs themselves. Chelsea, despite a bloated and it would appear, characterless, squad are decidedly average. Spurs are an absolute mess and need a major reset and Newcastle United still cannot fully leverage their Saudi Arabian ownership. Manchester City are in a peculiar place, with growing anxiety over the future of their manager, Pep Guardiola.
Possibly the most accurate thing to say about having six teams in the competition is that the strength in depth may be a little suspect. But if you put six Spanish, Italian and German sides in the Champions League last 16, three or four might be challenged against members of the elite.
There’s an assumption that having money is an instant passport for success, but every single member of football’s bulge bracket is searching for the same thing and there does seem a lack of talent in some areas – where, for example, are the next generation of goal machines? English clubs have the cash, but are they spending it wisely? There has been criticism of the transfer market models of Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester United and Liverpool’s spending spree in the summer has had question marks placed against it. The young players that are shaping the future of European football seem to be at Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain at the moment.
The English clubs are essentially competing with Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain as well as themselves – in both 2019 and 2021, the Champions League final was an all-English affair. When English clubs get to the final, they haven’t beaten a Spanish side in the 21st century – in 2006, 2009, 2011, 2018 and 2022, Barcelona and Real Madrid have been too strong for the Premier League.
The Premier has had two sides in the last eight for all but two seasons in the last decade and in 2019, they had four. The best period was arguably between 2066-07 and 2009-10 when they had a quartet in the quarter-finals in four of five seasons. Only once did England win, in 2008 when Manchester United beat Chelsea on penalties. The other winners in that period were AC Milan, Barcelona (twice) and Inter Milan.
Arsenal and Liverpool remain in contention and while the Gunners are the best team in the Premier at the moment, they have been improving in Europe in the past two seasons. Along with Bayern Munich, they are probably in good enough shape to win the Champions League. Liverpool are a little like Real Madrid – they have the pedigree in Europe and they always manage to produce something special in the competition. Arsenal must be reasonably happy with their tie with Sporting, but then it’s Barca or Atlético. Liverpool have a tougher path, starting with PSG and then they face Real or Bayern. There are no easy games left and an English side may yet figure in the Budapest final. Crisis? Not yet.