Matt Maher: Premier League clubs have no excuses for European failings
It wasn’t a good week for English clubs in Europe, to put it mildly.
Of the nine to play, Villa were the only ones to win. Five, meanwhile, suffered defeat, with Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham all needing to overturn three-goal deficits if they are to avoid being knocked out of the Champions League.
The Premier League is still on course to secure an extra place in next year’s competition thanks to its co-efficient, yet those of us who have for some time been saying it was good as guaranteed are just a little less confident than before.
Above all else, this week’s results were simply a little embarrassing for a league which brands itself as the best in the world and possesses a financial firepower which really should make that the reality.
Recent days have seen the predictable search for answers, with some commentators pointing to fatigue as a likely factor.
Could it not be that they just didn’t play very well? Or simply came up against better opponents? There really shouldn’t be any clamour for excuses.
True, Premier League teams do tend to play more matches across a season than their European counterparts. Of the six English teams in the Champions League, five have played the most games of European clubs this term.
Yet many of their rivals are not far behind. Barcelona and Atletico Madrid have played more matches than Tottenham, while Paris Saint-Germain played (like Chelsea) in last summer’s Club World Cup. It is also true Newcastle, who have played the most matches of any club on the continent, delivered one of the most impressive results with their draw against Barcelona.
In the latter, PSG and Real Madrid, English clubs were drawn against three of the four clubs (the other being Bayern Munich) who can compete with their financial might.
Against PSG, Chelsea were in the tie until a mad final 15 minutes, while Manchester City paid the price against Real for some curious tactical changes by Pep Guardiola.
Tottenham, meanwhile, are Tottenham. No-one seriously gave them a chance against Atletico, no matter how farcical the circumstances turned out to be.
It’s hard to make the case for tiredness when English squads are so deep. Even more so in a season which followed the Premier League outspending all other major European leagues combined during last summer’s transfer window.
In a sport where money usually talks, they should simply be doing a whole lot better.
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