• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Betting Offers UK

Best Free Bets & Casino Sign Up Offers For 2022

  • Betting Offers
  • Free Bets
  • Casino Bonuses
  • Home
  • New Sites
  • Free Spins
  • Free Bet Clubs
  • Loyalty
  • Football
    • Premier League
  • Horse Racing
    • Cheltenham Festival
      • Disruptions & Cancellations
      • Old Course v New Course
      • Prestbury Cup
      • Top Trainers
      • Top Jockeys
      • Amateur Races
    • Grand National
      • Picking a Winner
      • Grand National Winners
      • Grand National Fences
      • Disruptions & Cancellations
      • Back to Back Winners
      • How Often Does the Favourite Win?
      • Prize Money
      • Virtual Grand National
      • Grand National Sponsors
      • Reserve Horses
      • How Many Finish
      • How Many Run
      • Grey Horses
      • Popularity
      • Amateur Jockeys
  • Irish Lottery
  • Blog

After Liverpool Reach Another Champions League Final, Why Do So many English Teams Fail to Win the Trophy?

8 May, 2019

Champions League Trophy
Credit: Dennis1989, Wikimedia Commons (cropped)

Most who witnessed Liverpool’s 4-0 win over Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final could scarcely believe their eyes.

Trailing 0-3 from the first leg, without key players in Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino AND with a Premier League title decider to consider on Sunday, the Reds achieved the unthinkable.

Powered on by the raucous Anfield faithful – they hadn’t given up on reaching the final, that’s for sure, and when Divock Origi scored as early as the seventh minute dreams of the ‘Miracle of Istanbul’ were conjured up once more.

Substitute Gini Wijnaldum fired a quick double in the second half, and suddenly the scoreline was all square. Barcelona, with Lionel Messi a shadow of his normal self and Luis Suarez booed remorselessly with every touch of the ball, didn’t stand a chance.

It was almost inevitable when Origi popped up again to nudge home Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross, and the ‘Miracle of Merseyside’ was complete.

And so Liverpool take their place in the 2018/19 Champions League final at Atletico Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano Stadium….and who knows, they might yet be joined by Tottenham, who tackle Ajax in the second semi-final.

One thing that Liverpool will need to do if they are to get their hands on the Champions League trophy is to improve on a bizarre record of English clubs in European football’s top competition.

Because for all of their spending – and English clubs spend more than any other league in Europe in the transfer window – only four sides from these shores have won the Champions League since it took over from the European Cup in 1992/93.

Surely money buys success in football? You would certainly have thought so, but the history books suggest that is not the case.

So why do English clubs continue to fail in the Champions League?

Spending for Spending’s Sake

You might think that’s a statement that needs a caveat: English teams are failing in the Champions League. But when you look at the transfer spending of the likes of Manchester City and United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal, realistically teams from England should have a better than 4 in 26 ratio of winning this tournament.

The financial figures are illuminating. Web firm Consultancy.uk has published the transfer spending of each of Europe’s top five divisions in the summer transfer window since 2009, and in each case the Premier League comes out on top as far as percentage spend is concerned.

Here’s a look at the last five years’ worth of spending:

Chart Showing the Percentage Transfer Spend From Europe's Top 5 Leagues Over the Last 5 Seasons

So what are the key takeaway points: well, we should state that the stats above feature is all of the teams in each of those leagues combined, not just those competing in the Champions League.

So, cash-rich teams further down the food chain in England are contributing more to the figures above as opposed to poorer mid and lower-table sides in Spain and Germany, for instance.

And it would be foolish to conclude that these numbers are wholly instructive; Real Madrid have won four of the last five editions of the Champions League, for example, and they are no strangers to splashing the cash….you don’t get the nickname ‘Galacticos’ for nothing, after all.

But the concept should ring true: you buy better players, you improve the standard of football in your country, you should expect to see an improvement at the highest level.

For all the millions splurged on new players each season, English clubs aren’t competing with their European bedfellows. It’s a conundrum that has no real answer – hence the continued failings of our teams on the continent.

Big Game Players?

To call the efforts of English clubs in the Champions League a complete failure would be a falsehood, however.

There have been 26 finals of this competition since it changed its name from the European Cup, and nine of those have featured English clubs.

Champion’s League Finals Featuring English Clubs

Season Winner Runner-Up
2017/18 Real Madrid Liverpool
2011/12 Chelsea Bayern Munich
2010/11 Barcelona Manchester United
2008/09 Barcelona Manchester United
2007/09 Manchester United Chelsea
2006/07 AC Milan Liverpool
2004/05 Liverpool AC Milan
2005/06 Barcelona Arsenal
1998/99 Manchester United Bayern Munich

So, technically, we’ve had more teams fall at the final hurdle than actually lift the trophy.

Even allowing for the small sample size, that is a fact that has to be considered in isolation: English teams get a glimpse of the trophy and, in more than half the cases, crumble.

So why is that? It’s not as if the top clubs in England are overly staffed by English players, and so we can’t use a lack of experience in big international matches – World Cup 2018 aside – as an excuse.

Can other arguments be introduced: do we play too many games per season in the Premier League, leaving teams shattered? Is the English style of play simply not conducive to prolonged success against the continent’s best?

We can answer both of these theories with a look at Liverpool, who have now reached two consecutive Champions League finals.

Do Liverpool Have the Winning Formula?

Bill Shankly Wall Display at Anfield
Image Credit: Ben Sutherland, flickr

This is a club where British players – Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Andy Robertson are key, and this is also a side that for the past two seasons has maintained a Premier League title push in the midst of their European adventure.

Instead we can look to the systems implemented by Jurgen Klopp and his staff which are pan-European in nature; remember, he has enjoyed success both in Germany and in the Champions League before from his Borussia Dortmund days. Maybe more of the big clubs in England should profile their managers with this in mind: Unai Emery, Maurizio Sarri and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer don’t exactly have a stack of trophies between them.

In the last couple of transfer windows, Klopp has signed Alisson, Virgil van Dijk and Fabinho. Yes, astronomical sums were paid, relatively speaking, but all three of those players have improved the spine of the Liverpool team. In short, they were signed for a purpose; they weren’t ‘marquee’ signings purchased just to appease the fans.

So there you go, that’s the blueprint for Champions League success: appoint a manager with previous Champions League experience, sign players that fit the system (they don’t have to be household names) and those who have big game pedigree.

There’s some English clubs that could learn a lot from the Liverpool approach….

Previous Post: « Ruby Walsh Career Highlights: The Great Jockey Retires After 2019 Punchestown Gold Cup Glory
Next Post: UEFA Criticised for ‘Disgraceful’ Ticket Allocations for Champions League and Europa League Finals »

Primary Sidebar

Blog

Brazil Flag Against Blue Sky
Project Libra: Could Brazil’s Club-Led Revolution Be the Blueprint for a New Order in World Football?
Microphone Against Colourful Lights
What is the Best Eurovision Performance of All Time?
Money Exchanged Against Football Stadium
Footballers with Family Members as Agents - How Much Do They Earn?
Football Video Game on TV
The History of EA Sports’ FIFA Video Game Series with the Franchise Set to End from 2023
Champions League Ball on Plinth
Champions League 2024: All the Changes Confirmed as UEFA Reveals Revamp
More Blog Posts | Full Archives

Archives

Betting Sign Up Offers

  • Free Bets
    • Bet £5 Get £20/£30+
  • Casino Bonuses
  • Free Spins

Loyalty Offers

  • Acca Bonuses
  • Acca Insurance
  • Best Odds Guaranteed
  • Free Bet Clubs
  • Loyalty Points

Major Events

  • Grand National
    • How to Pick the Grand National Winner
    • Grand National Winners
    • Grand National Fences
    • Prize Money
    • Disruptions & Cancellations
    • Back to Back Winners
    • How Often Does the Favourite Win?
    • What is the Virtual Grand National?
    • Grand National Sponsors
    • Reserve Horses
    • How Many Horses Finish?
    • How Many Horses Run?
    • Most Successful Owners
    • Changes Over Time
    • Female Jockeys
    • Grey Horses in the Grand National
    • Amateur Jockeys
    • Popularity
  • Cheltenham Festival
    • Festival Disruptions & Cancellations
    • Old Course v New Course
    • The Prestbury Cup
    • Top Trainers
    • Top Jockeys
    • Amateur Races
  • Premier League
    • Without the Big Six?
  • Irish Lottery

Related Posts

  • Project Libra: Could Brazil’s Club-Led Revolution Be the Blueprint for a New Order in World Football?
  • Footballers with Family Members as Agents - How Much Do They Earn?
  • The History of EA Sports’ FIFA Video Game Series with the Franchise Set to End from 2023
  • Champions League 2024: All the Changes Confirmed as UEFA Reveals Revamp
  • Carlo Ancelotti Becomes the First Manager to Win a League Title in Each of Europe’s Big Five Leagues: Who Else Has Come Close to Doing the Same?
  • Mino Raiola: The Life and Career of a Football Super Agent
  • Exeter City Prove That Fan-Owned Football Clubs Can Survive and Then Succeed
  • The Panenka Penalty Kick: What Is It and Who Invented It?
  • Independent Football Regulation in England: Major Changes Due with Fans Set to Get More Say
  • Is Coming Out of International Football Retirement a Good Idea?

Betting Blog

  • American Football
  • Athletics
  • Betting Industry
  • Boxing
  • Cricket
  • Darts
  • Football
  • General
  • Golf
  • Horse Racing
  • Motor Racing
  • Politics
  • Rugby
  • Snooker
  • Tennis
betting-sites.co.uk
gambling-sites.co.uk

Copyright © 2022 Betting-Offers.com | BeGambleAware.org 18+