Both Liverpool and Manchester City headed to the continent this week with very different tasks in front of them. For Liverpool, it was a case of going to Milan to face an experienced – and seemingly rejuvenated – Internazionale side who had turned the San Siro into something of a fortress again this season. For City, it was a case of heading to Lisbon to face Sporting CP, one of Europe’s up-and-coming teams, an underrated side who some tipped to give City a lot more trouble than they expected.
As it turns out, neither City nor Liverpool had anything to worry about. The former left Portugal with a 5-0 aggregate lead, and it’s a certainty that we will see them in the Quarter-Finals. As for Liverpool, a 2-0 win at the San Siro was arguably just as impressive. It was not as spectacular as what City achieved 24 hours earlier, but it was dogged and determined. The kind of victory that champions grind out when required.
Statement victories for City and Reds
The rest of Europe’s elite clubs will not fail to have noticed the performances of the two Premier League sides. They were “statement” victories. After those results, City and Liverpool’s Champions League odds were cut. Given Bayern’s struggles in Salzburg, it looks like the two English clubs are now the teams to beat in Europe’s elite competition.
But it says something about the extraordinary strength and depth of the Premier League at the moment. Man City, as you are probably aware, have a stranglehold on the title this year, and they are hot favourites in the English Premier League betting odds to win a third title in four years. But the fact that Liverpool are given almost equal weighting in the Champions League stresses the pendulum has swung firmly to England.
Of course, there are other English teams with ambitions in the Champions League, and, lest we forget, Chelsea are the reigning European champions. Manchester United, too, have the resources to be competitive, even if the club seems to be in something of a mess at the moment.
Financial troubles blight European heavyweights
But perhaps the strength of the Premier League clubs is most evident due to the weaknesses elsewhere. Yes, PSG have plenty of money, and Bayern will always be competitive. But the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, and others have been beset by financial problems, even if some recent transfer activity has papered over the cracks.
And then, there is Newcastle United. The Saudi-backed takeover has, at a stroke, created the world’s richest football club. It might take time for Newcastle to scale the heights of becoming a Champions League club – indeed, they might be relegated first – but the money will eventually tell. The point, as such, is that we are looking at six or seven ‘elite’ clubs from the Premier League (we include Tottenham and Arsenal in those already mentioned) capable of challenging for honours in Europe every year.
Some might point out that football is cyclical. In the late 1980s and 1990s, Serie A was the epicentre of football strength. In the 2000s, it swung to Barcelona and Madrid. But there is something that seems much more sustainable here in the Premier League. A host of billionaire owners who will not lightly walk away or stop financing their projects. In years gone by, those performances by City and Liverpool would have been talking points of the season. But they were, in the end, routine victories from two powerhouses sent out to raid Europe from the strongest division in world football.