Last night saw Chelsea progress to meet Man Utd in the Champions League final —the first ever all English final in this competition. And it's been coming.
Previously, Spanish clubs had dominated Europe, with Real Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia getting to finals.
Then it was Italy's turn, with Juventus and AC Milan the dominant forces.
However, it seems that it's England's turn now. This year's final we see an English team in it for the fourth successive year. And, now Chelsea have got through, every single one of the "big four" has been in at least one of them.
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This just shows how strong the Premier League has become—that anyone of four clubs can get to the final.
With only one English Champions League finalist in the twenty years between 1985 and 2005, this sudden flurry of finalists must have a lot to do with the money injected in the game, allowing us to compete with the best Europe has to offer.
Unfortunately, this money is spent on foreigners, who make the real difference, not home grown talent, so despite England dominating on the club scene, I can't see that happening on the international scene anytime soon.
However, if the Premier League continues to grow more each year, then it will start to pull away from the likes of La Liga and Serie A.
This should attract the world's best to the England, which still may not help our international game, but will help us on the club scene hugely.
So I can see the English domination of Europe continuing for a while now, and it may not be long before we see the likes of Messi and Kaka strutting their stuff in England.
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8 months ago
Between 1985 and 1990 no English team played a European game and that set English football back hugely. It took them 10 years to catch up again and now they have taken the lead.
Anyone of 4 clubs? Oh you mean the 4 team Premier League? I'm losing interest just thinking about it.
8 months ago
"However, if the Premier League continues to grow more each year, then it will start to pull away from the likes of La Liga and Serie A."
What is with this Premier League arrogance? I don't really remember the Italians and Spanish saying they will be the best for years to come when they each had two finalists. I'm definitely going to point to all these "The Premier League is the best" articles if England fails to do as well next season.
8 months ago
its hardly arrogance. English teams are dominating europe at the moment - its a fact, as it was with spain and italy when they were. and the premier league will start to pull away, as weve got more money, and money attracts quality.
8 months ago
I just don't think that they'll continue to dominate with money alone. I'm not convinced it's going to be this way for years to come. It's too early to be talking of domination.
8 months ago
Quality..
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