There is always a healthy debate surrounding the merits of the top domestic football leagues in Europe. The English Premier League is home to many of the wealthiest sports teams in the world – let alone in football – and none of the other big leagues can compare when it comes to money distribution. That wealth has not always meant success, however.
As the three European club competitions reach their finals this season, we have seen English clubs succeed to the point of earning an extra berth in the most prestigious for next season. Serie A clubs had previously performed so well to claim an extra spot but now it is the English league that is in the ascendency.
There was a time when English supremacy was normal, of course. During the 1970s and 1980s, it was very common for one of its clubs to win what was then called the European Cup – as well as there being regular success in the UEFA and Cup Winners’ Cups too. If you are looking for sports betting tips, you may well have read a lot about the current power of the EPL. But can it really consider itself the strongest in Europe?
At the semifinal stage of this season’s Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League, there were still four English clubs in with a chance of lifting the trophies. In the Europa League there was the very real prospect of an all-EPL final between Manchester United and Spurs. Arsenal and Chelsea still had the chance of winning the other competitions and providing a first-ever clean sweep.
Football is as open as any sport to trends, of course. There have been eras dominated by Spanish clubs, as well as the previously mentioned Italian success. It is very noticeable, looking over the last five years of European football, that Serie A has provided the clubs who have gone far into tournaments – especially the Europa and Conference Leagues – but without much final success. La Liga is always well represented, while the German Bundesliga has had its own notable seasons too.
There are some very noticeable nation-specific traits, however. Spanish success – or even just representation in the later rounds – is usually down to the big three clubs. Real Madrid are almost ever-presents in the semifinals of the Champions League, while Atletico has also crashed the party recently. Barcelona, a former giant of European football, has been conspicuously absent in the last five years or so but recent results suggest the club’s fortunes are on an upward curve again.
We have seen very familiar domestic champions in all of the five big European leagues in recent times but there seems to be a trend away from that this year. That has seen the leagues dominated by one or two clubs fall away and the EPL prove its competitive nature further by offering more clubs making it through to later rounds. Manchester United and Tottenham might be considered more natural Champions League clubs – and are both performing poorly in the EPL – but have the depth to crush other second tier competition clubs from smaller leagues.
Leicester City, Aston Villa, and West Ham have all figured in the later rounds of European competition in the last five years as well. One of the teams have actually been relegated this season and another has been firmly positioned in the bottom half of the table all year. Does this suggest that there is so much competition in the EPL that clubs can go from almost claiming a European trophy to battling the drop in the space of only a few years?
The speed of the demise of Manchester City has been one of the biggest features of the EPL this season and the race for the top five places, earning a Champions League spot for next season, has been intense. Former greats, like Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa, have battled with Arsenal and Chelsea all year, with Newcastle, Brighton, and Bournemouth all equally determined to qualify. At one point it seemed as though the entire top half of the EPL could seriously justify calling themselves contenders for a Champions League berth and that competitive nature is just the most recent example of the league becoming stronger.
The EPL will have more clubs competing in European competitions next season than any other, so we might expect another season of English success. Then again, there is no guarantee that all of the teams will do well – or that the semifinals will be full of EPL clubs. The most powerful teams in Spain, Italy, Germany, and France will most likely all do well again at some point but the immense wealth in the EPL promises greater representation throughout the league.
Although we probably can’t proclaim the EPL as the rulers of European football, because of the relative lack of success in finals, it does look as though the English league is the strongest from top to bottom. That should be enough for football fans to get used to seeing EPL teams in the later rounds in the near future. With so much domestic competition, it also means that some “big” clubs will play in the Europa and Conference Leagues and have the power to blow away the competition.
The EPL may not provide Champions League champions every season but its clubs are always worth backing to go far in all three competitions. And that is something not likely to change until there is more competition throughout the other big leagues.