This prompts a debate among editors – is the only English club in the semi-finals of the European Cup really surprising?

Last week, we asked you whether the overhaul of the Ligue 1 calendar had damaged the integrity of the championship. YES won 67%. We’re in a discussion about football this week, with a question about England. This season, British clubs are winless in European competition, with only Aston Villa in the last four of the Europa Conference League. Is it really that surprising? Two journalists from the Union/Ardennais sports department discussed the issue. And you, what do you think? Please vote below.

Definitely disappointing

Football and the game at the top level is often a matter of cycles, handovers and power, sometimes with teams resembling European dynasties.

If we look at the recent history of the Champions League and Europa League, we see that English clubs have always, at least often. In the last five editions of the so-called Big Years Cup, three British football clubs have added their names to the list: Liverpool in 2019, Chelsea in 2021 and Manchester City in 2023. More broadly, there is always at least one club English. A member of the Final Four since 2017, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the edition in Lisbon was halted and rescheduled to a Final 8 format.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BovnX1dbTjU

The same song is also in the Europa League, a competition hosted by Spaniards Sevilla FC, winners of five of the last ten editions. In C3, the 2022–2023 season is the only time the four finalists for the trophy have not seen an English club: one in 2017–2018 (Arsenal), two in 2018–2019 (Arsenal and Chelsea, with the Blues winning the final against the Gunners), one in 2019–2020. (Manchester United), two in 2020-2021 (Manchester United and Arsenal) and one in 2021-2022 (West Ham).

This ubiquity reflects many compelling arguments to the following conclusion: it is unusual, and therefore surprising, to find Aston Villa alone as the last representative of Her Majesty’s football. However, this does not mean that the Premier League is overrated, as it remains the best championship in the world, the most powerful sportingly and economically, and therefore the most attractive. This is why the Anglo-Saxon teams have a duty to raise their heads next season.

In the meantime, they can focus on the domestic title. As it is well known, the champion of England is, for them and their supporters, better than anything else.

The Premier League is overrated

Being the most powerful championship in the world does not guarantee dominance on the European scene. Proof that Unai Emery’s Aston Villa were the only Premier League to be represented was beaten at home by Olympiakos Piraeus in the Europa Conference League semi-final first leg in mid-week last season, which saw them finish third.

Defending champions Manchester City, knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Champions League by perennial Real Madrid, are still in the running, with the 15th star hanging on their jersey and already crowned champions of Spain for the 36th time in their history. , as Bayern Munich returned to Arsenal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB0hwEG3Yk4

In the Europa League, Liverpool also met Italy’s Atalanta Bergamo in the quarter-finals. It remains to be seen what is more important to clubs across the Channel: being masters of their territory or reigning in the Old Continent? We have the impression that they are more focused on laying down the law in the domestic championship than trying to extend their record in the European Cup. The Premier League is definitely the most competitive competition in the world of football, that’s for sure, and as a result, teams definitely lose more to prove regularity at the European level. We even have the impression that Guardiola’s City achieved their Holy Grail by winning the Big Years Cup last season.

Only one English club in the semi-finals of European Cups is proof above all that the Premier League is somewhat overrated. The German Bundesliga, which offers equally intense matches every weekend, is really nothing to envy and its three leading clubs are in the last four on the continental scene (Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Munich in the Champions League, Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League).

Even our beloved Ligue 1, much criticized for its level of play, is doing well with Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique de Marseille re-establishing their link to the European Cup.