Although Newcastle has not yet become one of the best teams in the English Premier League, it still has the ability to compete for one of the top eight places in Europe – Photo: Reuters
Accordingly, 5 of the top 8 places in the group – which is equivalent to direct qualification to the round of 16 – are currently occupied by English giants.
The Premier League is very strong.
Arsenal top the table with a perfect record of seven wins in seven matches. Followed by Liverpool in fourth place with 15 points, then Tottenham in fifth place with 14 points, and Newcastle and Chelsea in seventh and eighth place, respectively, with 13 points each. As for Manchester City, despite having 13 points, it ranks eleventh with a lower goal difference.
The difference between Real Madrid, which is in third place, and Juventus, which is in fifteenth place, is three points. Surprises are possible in the final round, and Liverpool and Chelsea may fall out of the top eight. But don’t be surprised if all six Premier League teams qualify early for the round of 16.
In the final round of matches, Manchester City hosts Galatasaray at home. Liverpool is playing an easier match against Karabakh. As for Tottenham, they face Frankfurt, a team that has no hope of qualifying. Chelsea (in its match against Napoli) and Newcastle (in its match against Paris Saint-Germain) face great challenges. However, the Premier League effectively ensured that all six teams qualified for the knockout stages (at least the play-off round).
For comparison, La Liga currently only has one representative in the top eight teams, Real Madrid. Expanding to the top 24 teams (last place to qualify for the knockout rounds), La Liga also includes Barcelona (9th), Atletico Madrid (12th) and Athletic Bilbao (23rd).
Likewise, the Bundesliga has four teams, but Bayern Munich is the only team to reach the top eight. Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen (ranked 16th and 20th respectively) are likely to qualify for the knockout stages, but their chances of reaching the last 16 directly are almost non-existent. As for the Italian League, there is no team in the top eight positions.
The sheer number of players in the qualifying rounds demonstrates the true strength of English football.
Financial strength
It should be noted that two of the six English teams mentioned above are at the bottom of the Premier League table: Newcastle and Tottenham. On the other hand, Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea are experiencing a disappointing season.
But even when the English giants’ performance is below par, they remain amazingly consistent in continental competitions. This is not just a temporary fluctuation in performance, but the product of two decades of management in English football, a fair distribution of revenues, and a focus on media, marketing and the quality of football itself.
The days of the “Big Six” are over. The Premier League now has nearly a dozen top clubs, with Newcastle and Aston Villa joining the list of candidates for the top four. The league also includes a group of financially strong teams such as Crystal Palace, Bournemouth, Brighton and others.
The summer transfer market review shows the huge strength of English teams. Newly promoted teams, such as Sunderland and Leeds, are willing to spend between 100 and 150 million euros on signing players.
Teams such as Crystal Palace, Brighton and Bournemouth are also able to attract top stars from other leagues. As for mid-table clubs such as Newcastle, Tottenham and Aston Villa, they outperform even the top teams in the Italian League and the German League in terms of spending capacity.
The English Premier League increasingly dominates European football. The title of “the most exciting league on Earth” has taken on real value for the English Premier League.
