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

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?

Arsenal are hoping to win the Champions League for the first time and, while it is still early days, they have made a hugely encouraging start.

Themselves, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan are the only sides with a perfect record so far in the league phase, sitting joint top with 12 points from a possible 12.

As well as keeping a clean sheet in each of their four games so far they have also scored 11 goals - a scoring record bettered only by Bayern Munich, Paris St-Germain (both 14), Borussia Dortmund (13) and Barcelona (12).

Collectively, English teams are outperforming those from other countries, winning 17 of their 24 games, scoring a total of 56 goals - 14 more than any others - and conceding just 17, a record only bettered by teams from France, who have three clubs in the competition compared to six from England.

So why are English teams doing so well?

A significant factor is the financial muscle they are able to flex compared to teams from the rest of Europe, enabling them to spend more on transfer fees and wages to attract the best talent.

TV rights have generated enormous broadcast revenues for Premier League sides, with the income from that source dwarfing those of other countries.

This summer, Premier League clubs outlaid more than ever before in the transfer window as spending surpassed £3bn.

To highlight just how much financial power Premier League clubs have over elsewhere in Europe, the total spent this year was more than was spent by Bundesliga, La Liga, Ligue 1 and Serie A clubs combined.

More money means clubs can invest in bigger squads, with Arsenal seeing the benefits of spending big this summer to increase their strength in depth as they lead the way in the Premier League and sit joint-top of the league standings in the Champions League.

"Obviously in a knockout competition anything can happen but in terms of money, talent, coaching, facilities and even the talent in the offices, England are the super league of Europe," Balague added.

I am not saying this perhaps with the jealousy of Spanish football in general, it is just a reflection of what is happening.

This is the first Champions League season to feature six clubs from one nation and history will be made if all six of England's representatives go through.

Back in 2017, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham all progressed, making England the first country to have five teams in the knockouts of the competition.

However just two of those sides - Liverpool and Manchester City - got beyond the last 16, while the Reds went all the way to final after knocking City out in the quarter-finals.

In the final, Liverpool were beaten by Real Madrid.

According to Opta's predictions, Arsenal have a 99.8% chance of progressing to the knockouts, with Manchester City on 97.4% and Liverpool on 95.5%.

However, the predictions model is a little less confident over the automatic progress of the other three sides with Newcastle on 82%, Chelsea on 80.8% and Tottenham on 72%.

Former Liverpool midfielder Stephen Warnock told BBC Sport: "I'd say at the moment it is [significant what English teams are doing], but it doesn't matter what goes on at the moment because we saw what happened last year, when Liverpool were dominating and finished top of the league stage - and then they were suddenly knocked out by PSG who had been rubbish up until then.

So I just don't see at the moment, unless you get knocked out, what effect it is going to have and it does not mean the English teams are going to get through the knockout stages because it all depends on the draw, and how you are set up later in the competition.

Bayern Munich, led by the in-form Harry Kane, boast a perfect record so far in the league phase.

No team has scored more than their 14 goals so far - with Kane accounting for five of those - while they have conceded just three.

It is currently mostly the usual suspects occupying the top eight slots - the positions sides need to finish to qualify automatically for the knockouts - with Inter Milan, Paris St-Germain and Real Madrid joining Bayern and the four English sides in those positions.

Azerbaijani side Qarabag are showing that money isn't everything after they held Chelsea to a draw on Wednesday and currently have seven points from four games, putting them well on the way to sealing at least a play-off spot.

Taking last season - the first to utilise the league phase format - as a barometer for what is needed to finish in the top eight, then around 16 points from the eight games should be sufficient.

It means teams are likely going to need to win five of their eight games, which this season's Premier League sides are on course to achieve.

There is a lot more leeway to secure a play-off place, which goes to the sides who finish between ninth and 24th.

Last season, Club Brugge secured the final qualifying spot for the play-offs, winning just three of their eight games on their way to a total of 11 points.

It is still early days but Arsenal's superb start has them rated as the most likely to go all the way and win the competition.

Opta predictions give them a 23.4% chance of winning the Champions League, while Manchester City are predicted to be the second most-likely English team to reach the final at 12.5%. Liverpool are third favourites from England with 11.3%.

But former Everton midfielder Leon Osman believes the true test of the Premier League teams' capabilities will come in the knockouts.

He said: "It is great [what English teams are currently doing], but it is only when you then get to the knockout stages, where it is literally one team through and one going home, that is the true test and that is when the big-hitters turn up."

But Osman added that while it is early days, there could be signs that Premier League teams are now getting the balance right between being able to be competitive at home and abroad.

"We have probably expected this [dominance] for years, but it hasn't quite materialised before," he said.

Maybe that is down to the competitiveness of the Premier League, which makes it hard to combine the two, but maybe this year, they are starting to get the balance right.

Of the 31 seasons of at least one English side in the Champions League, 16 of those campaigns have seen every Premier League representative progress beyond the group stage or first group stage.

Of those 16 occasions there have been 11 appearances in the final from English sides, with 2007-08, 2018-19 and 2020-21 having all-English finals.

But according to Opta predictions the most likely final at this stage would see an English side face a German side, with Arsenal (38.8%) and Bayern Munich (27.3%) the favourites to get there.

Source: BBC
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