- Learn about England’s surprising outcome in the Champions League and Europa League, with no semi-finalists in either competition. Explore the factors behind this unprecedented occurrence and its implications for English football.
Champions League and Europa League: How England ended up with no semi-finalists in top two competitions
What has gone wrong in England that there are no teams in the semi-finals of the Champions League or Europa League for only the third time in the twenty-first century?
On Wednesday, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich eliminated Manchester City and Arsenal from the Champions League quarterfinals, respectively.
And on Thursday, Liverpool and West Ham were eliminated from the Europa League as predicted, having failed to overcome first-leg deficits against Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen, respectively.
Aston Villa, the last remaining English team in Europe, defeated Lille on penalties to advance to the Europa League semifinals, the third-tier competition that is only in its third season.
The Cup Winners’ Cup was eliminated in 1999, and the Uefa Cup—now known as the Europa League—rose from its third-tier status to the second-tier of European trophies.
Since then, England has only had no teams in the last four of that competition or the Champions League three times: in 2002–03 and in 2014–15.
And the Premier League won’t have a finalist in either competition for just the fourth time in the previous 20 seasons.
Five years ago, Chelsea defeated Arsenal to win the Europa League, and Liverpool defeated Tottenham in the Champions League final. Both finals were all-English events.
English teams have won three of the last five European titles; Chelsea defeated Manchester City in 2021, while City triumphed against Inter Milan in the previous campaign.
It is surprising that there aren’t any semi-finalists in the top two trophies considering that England’s four quarter-finalists have matched their average over the previous six seasons.
Paris St-Germain will play Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semifinals, while Bayern Munich will play Real Madrid. It’s Roma vs. Bayer Leverkusen and Atalanta vs. Marseille in the Europa League.
The finals’ locations—the Champions League final at Wembley and the Europa League championship match in Dublin’s Aviva Stadium—may be even more annoying for English teams and their supporters.
With teams supported by billions of pounds, the Premier League has grown increasingly powerful in recent years, to the point that it is difficult to dispute its status as the greatest league in the world.
Since 2020, English teams have accounted for ten of the twelve largest transfer fees paid by European clubs; Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane are the other two.
English teams make up 13 of the top 20 teams with the highest net spend (transfer money spent minus transfer money received) over the last ten years, outspending Champions League semifinalists Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in the process.
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