This is the third time in the 21st century that England have failed to place a team in the Champions League or Europa League semi-finals, but what exactly went wrong?
Manchester City and Arsenal were eliminated from the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday, facing Real Madrid and Bayern Munich respectively.
And on Thursday, as expected, Liverpool and West Ham were eliminated from the Europa League after failing to overturn their first-leg deficit against Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen.
Aston Villa are the only English team left in Europe. Defeat Lille in penalty shootout This is to advance to the semi-finals of the European Conference League. The European Conference League is a third-tier tournament that is still in its third season.
How rare is this?
In 1999, the Cup Winners' Cup was abolished and the UEFA Cup (now called the Europa League) was promoted from Europe's third division to the second division.
It is only the third time since then that England have failed to place a team in the top four of that competition or the Champions League, along with the 2002-03 and 2014-15 seasons.
It is also the fourth time in the past 20 seasons that the Premier League has not fielded a finalist in either competition.
Five years ago, Liverpool beat Tottenham in the Champions League final and Chelsea beat Arsenal in the Europa League, with both finals played exclusively in England.
Three of the past five European champions have been English, with Chelsea beating Manchester City in 2021 and City beating Inter Milan last season.
With England's four quarter-finalists matching the average of the past six seasons, it is surprising that there are no semi-finalists in the top two trophies.
In the Champions League semi-finals, Paris Saint-Germain will face Borussia Dortmund, while Bayern Munich will face Real Madrid. In the Europa League, it's Atalanta vs. Marseille and Roma vs. Bayer Leverkusen.
Perhaps even more frustrating for English clubs and their fans is the venue for the final. Wembley is the venue for the Champions League final, while Dublin's Aviva Stadium is the venue for the Europa League's marquee match.
Why is this so shocking?
The Premier League, which supports its teams with billions of pounds, has gone from strength to strength in recent years to the point where it is undoubtedly the best league in the world.
Ten of the 12 biggest transfers spent by European clubs since 2020 have been to England sides, with the other two being England international duo Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane.
Thirteen of the top 20 teams with the highest net spending (transfer fees spent minus transfer fees received) over the past decade have been English teams, with teams such as Crystal Palace and Bournemouth in the Champions League semi-finals. They are ahead of advanced players Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.
1. Manchester United – £1,196.6m | 11. Aston Villa – £414.3m |
2. Chelsea – £885.5m | 12th Liverpool – £395.3m |
3rd Paris Saint-Germain – £865.8m | 13. Al Hilal – £391.3m |
4. Arsenal – £746.9m | 14th Juventus – £385m |
5th Manchester City – £733.8m | 15th Everton – £336.1m |
6th Newcastle United – £575.2m | 16. Crystal Palace – £322.3m |
7. Barcelona – £568.4m | 17th Bournemouth – £294.9m |
8th Tottenham – £522.1m | 18th Bayern Munich – £294.1m |
9th AC Milan – £467.3m | 19th Real Madrid – £277.6m |
10. West Ham – £451.9m | 20. Nottingham Forest – £265.8m |
CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report Statistics |
Why did this happen?
One argument is that profit and sustainability rules are holding the UK back.
Currently, clubs cannot report losses of more than £105m over three years. This means clubs like Newcastle, who were in the Champions League this season, will not be able to spend the money they have.
Everton and Nottingham Forest were deducted points for breaking the rules.
Speaking after Wednesday's Champions League match, BBC football correspondent John Murray said: [Premier League teams] This is a shock to the system as it is traditionally power based.
“We have heard for years that part of the reason we are able to achieve profitability, sustainability and financial fair play is due to the strength of many teams in the Premier League. Did that play a role this season? Maybe they're not as strong as they thought? ”
Spanish soccer journalist Guillem Balague said it was too early to read too much into this.
“At this stage of the season, teams are tired or lackluster,” he said. “The Premier League is very tough. It takes five years to reach a conclusion. This may be the result of many things coming together.”
“If it continues for five years, there might be a problem somewhere. I don't think we'll ever know that. I think you can see the dominance of the England team, which we already know will continue next season. “This is just a coincidence. ' I think. “
Hey, how's the villa?they are still in europe
England have one semi-finalist in Aston Villa, but the Europa Conference League is still fairly new, only in its third season, so there is no room for comparison with previous seasons.
Nor are there any similar accolades. The tertiary tournament was partly devised to give clubs from smaller countries a chance to qualify.
Over the course of three seasons, clubs from Armenia, Estonia, Gibraltar, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Iceland, Faroe Islands and Bosnia and Herzegovina made it to the group stage for the first time.
England has made it to the Europa Conference League semi-finals in each of the three seasons: Leicester, last season's champions West Ham, and now Villa.
Villa will play Olympiakos, while Fiorentina will face Club Brugge in the other semi-final for a place in Athens.
Are there any other effects?
The Premier League has probably lost its fifth Champions League spot after a crushing defeat of English teams from Europe left, right and centre.
The teams from both countries with the best results in the three European competitions this year will earn an additional spot in next season's Champions League.
In six of the past seven seasons, England would have won one of those spots.
Italy will likely seal one and Germany will likely get the other. England's only hope is for Aston Villa to win both the semi-finals and final, with Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen all eliminated in both semi-finals.
Opta said the Premier League had an 82.5% chance of securing the fifth spot at the start of the quarter-finals. After the first leg, it dropped to 57.8%. This dropped to 6.2% after the Champions League draw.