We are now in the mid of March and the possibilities of the prestigious Champion’s League trophy, the most coveted crown in European football, going to an English club have already come to an end.
Only last season, Roberto Di Matteo’s Chelsea had lifted the trophy for the first time, and it was expected that stage was set for English teams to dominate in the seasons ahead. However, less than a year later, the only European honour the English can hope for is the Europa League.
While Manchester City got a tough task at its hands in the form of Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Ajax in the group stages, it was still expected to atleast qualify for the next round. However City ended up at the bottom of the group leaving many hopeful fans thoroughly disappointed.
The other English club to crash out in the group stage was defending champion Chelsea, going out because of an inferior goal difference compared to second place Shakhtar Donetsk in Group E. A change of managers has not quite worked in Chelsea’s favour this season, and a Europa League will be eagerly sought after by interim manager Rafa Benetiz in order to re-inject some lost pride in the Chelsea fans.
The other two English clubs, Arsenal and Manchester United did not stick around for long and were knocked out in the round of 16. Manchester United fans can blame the dubious refereeing as much as they want, but statistics will stay the same and facts cannot be changed. Arsenal, on the other hand, gave a spirited performance away at Bayern Munich, but leaked way too many goals at home to stay in the competition.
England will be now hoping for its Europa League representatives, to maintain the English pride by clinching the Europa title, with all three teams qualifying to the next round.
Chelsea hosted Steaua Bucharest and overcame the 1-0 deficit they suffered in the earlier fixture with a 3 - 1 score line. Juan Mata opened up the scoring in the 34th minute, but his strike was soon cancelled out by Vlad Chiriches who levelled the score and put the Czech side ahead on aggregate. A spirited Chelsea side made a comeback in the second half with goals from skipper John Terry, and Fernando Torres also adding another in the 71st minute to seal the victory for the Blues and ensure qualification to the next round.
Newcastle made good use of home conditions as they broke the 0 – 0 deadlock with opponents Anzhi Makhachkala and registered a 1-0 win courtesy of a brilliant header from Papiss Cisse in the dying moments.
Spurs were in for a horror as Italian side Inter Milan almost made a dramatic comeback. Antonio Cassano and Rodrigo Palacio registered goals for Inter before William Gallas scored an own goal to cap up an incredible comeback from the Italian side. With the scores levelled the match was carried on in extra time and Emmanuel Adebayor put the tie beyond Inter Milan scoring in the 96th minute, earning his team an away goal advantage.
Ricky Alvarez did score for the Nerazzurri, but it was not enough, and despite an exhilarating attacking display the Italians crashed out of the tournament losing on away goals.
With English teams and the English Premier League coming under heavy criticism after all four teams were knocked out of the Champions League, Spurs Newcastle and Chelsea now have a very important role to play in restoring England’s pride. With three out of eight teams qualifying to the next round being of English descent, there is a strong chance of us seeing an English team lifting the Europa League Cup.
While Manchester City got a tough task at its hands in the form of Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Ajax in the group stages, it was still expected to atleast qualify for the next round. However City ended up at the bottom of the group leaving many hopeful fans thoroughly disappointed.
The other English club to crash out in the group stage was defending champion Chelsea, going out because of an inferior goal difference compared to second place Shakhtar Donetsk in Group E. A change of managers has not quite worked in Chelsea’s favour this season, and a Europa League will be eagerly sought after by interim manager Rafa Benetiz in order to re-inject some lost pride in the Chelsea fans.
The other two English clubs, Arsenal and Manchester United did not stick around for long and were knocked out in the round of 16. Manchester United fans can blame the dubious refereeing as much as they want, but statistics will stay the same and facts cannot be changed. Arsenal, on the other hand, gave a spirited performance away at Bayern Munich, but leaked way too many goals at home to stay in the competition.
England will be now hoping for its Europa League representatives, to maintain the English pride by clinching the Europa title, with all three teams qualifying to the next round.
Chelsea hosted Steaua Bucharest and overcame the 1-0 deficit they suffered in the earlier fixture with a 3 - 1 score line. Juan Mata opened up the scoring in the 34th minute, but his strike was soon cancelled out by Vlad Chiriches who levelled the score and put the Czech side ahead on aggregate. A spirited Chelsea side made a comeback in the second half with goals from skipper John Terry, and Fernando Torres also adding another in the 71st minute to seal the victory for the Blues and ensure qualification to the next round.
Newcastle made good use of home conditions as they broke the 0 – 0 deadlock with opponents Anzhi Makhachkala and registered a 1-0 win courtesy of a brilliant header from Papiss Cisse in the dying moments.
Spurs were in for a horror as Italian side Inter Milan almost made a dramatic comeback. Antonio Cassano and Rodrigo Palacio registered goals for Inter before William Gallas scored an own goal to cap up an incredible comeback from the Italian side. With the scores levelled the match was carried on in extra time and Emmanuel Adebayor put the tie beyond Inter Milan scoring in the 96th minute, earning his team an away goal advantage.
Ricky Alvarez did score for the Nerazzurri, but it was not enough, and despite an exhilarating attacking display the Italians crashed out of the tournament losing on away goals.
With English teams and the English Premier League coming under heavy criticism after all four teams were knocked out of the Champions League, Spurs Newcastle and Chelsea now have a very important role to play in restoring England’s pride. With three out of eight teams qualifying to the next round being of English descent, there is a strong chance of us seeing an English team lifting the Europa League Cup.
