'England is the Super League of Europe' - how Premier League is dominating elite

[davieG]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/ceq0z4pnp1yo

 

Gary Rose
BBC Sport journalist

English clubs appear to be bossing things in Europe as, for the second time in this season's Champions League, five sides from the Premier League won in a single round of fixtures.

Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Newcastle and Tottenham all won their games this week, with the first four of those sides now sitting inside the top eight - the positions they need to be in to qualify automatically for the knockouts.

Only Chelsea failed to take all three points as they were held to a surprising 2-2 draw by Qarabag on Wednesday, but they are still handily placed at the halfway stage of the group stage as they sit 12th.

Before this season the Champions League had never seen five teams from one country all win in a single round of matches. Now teams from England have managed it twice.

"In five years' time we will look at this period of the next five years as the domination of England, I don't see it any other way," Spanish football journalist Guillem Balague told BBC Sport.

"Bayern are doing really, really well and they can disrupt that. PSG will have their moments, I think Barcelona and Real Madrid are lagging behind, but there is nobody else."

So following this dominant start, are English teams favourite to win the Champions League? And how likely is a fourth all-English final?

[davieG]

This is why they'll be allowed to continue to dominate the PL - the so-called “Big Six” benefitting from structural advantages or tailored conditions set up to maintain and support them at the expense of the other 14.

 

Watch the Women's Super League go the same way.

[AjcW]

All well and good until these teams get to the knockout rounds and crash out to teams that are better than them.

 

3 out of the last 10 Champions League winners from England, and two of those occasions were all English ties where European powerhouses were having shocker seasons.

 

I saw this article this morning and just thought "Get back to me when the draw for the Semi Final is done"

[Miquel The Work Geordie]

**** me having 6 sides from the same league in this really does dilute it a bit

[purpleronnie]

20 minutes ago, AjcW said:

All well and good until these teams get to the knockout rounds and crash out to teams that are better than them.

 

3 out of the last 10 Champions League winners from England, and two of those occasions were all English ties where European powerhouses were having shocker seasons.

 

I saw this article this morning and just thought "Get back to me when the draw for the Semi Final is done"

And la liga have won in 5 out of the last 10...granted it was the same side but still, so its more like Real madrid domination.

 

[urban.spaceman]

Cheats prosper. 

[Dan]

Honestly think English sides underperform in Europe relative to the money they spend. Think they generally dominate in the group stage / league phase but often come unstuck in the knockouts. Real Madrid do a lot of heavy lifting though.

 

Think German teams underperform. They so frequently get absolutely battered. Frankfurt and Dortmund's showings against Liverpool and Man City in the last two rounds - someone like West Ham would've been harder to beat and they're rubbish.

Edited 6 November 2025 by Dan

[JacobLCFC1234]

I think Spain is still seen as the destination the "elite" end up in. Specifically Real Madrid but Barcelona were a part of that for many years.

 

Most countries as a whole are weak but usually have one, possibly two stellar teams within them, like PSG, or Bayern, but the league as a whole is bad and that lack of competitiveness can aid freshness going into the champions league matches for those sorts of teams.

 

Pound for pound, Italy is consistently the most "overperforming" nation relative to te quality of the teams in my opinion and I think a lot of that comes from tactical awareness  and smart transfer business. squads always seem older and wiser.

 

The main advantage English teams have is depth. The 1 to 11s of the top teams are usually very good in the top 5 leagues, but in the other leagues beyond the starting 11 there isnt much depth to use.

 

The champions league gets a little bit dull because way too many games are one sided especially at the beginning. You know that a top 5 european league team is going to win it, theres not much scope for back in the day when teams like Porto, Bucharrest or even Celtic could win it. Never happening now.

 

Players like Xhaka would rather play for Sunderland than a Bundesliga winning team, that shows you the relative strength