It was not long ago that fans and pundits were admiring the power of the Premier League.
All six of its clubs competing in the Champions League reached the knockout stages of the competition for the first time.
But across two legs of last-16 action, those suggestions of dominance have been dashed with just two teams – Arsenal and Liverpool – progressing to the quarter-finals.
Manchester City, Chelsea, Newcastle and Tottenham were all eliminated – the first time four sides from a single nation have gone out at the same stage – having each suffered heavy defeats across their respective ties.
Overall the four sides conceded 28 goals, suggesting it was a humbling experience for Premier League clubs.
While specific issues can be offered for each team, it still begs the question: what went wrong for the English sides in Europe?
Did Premier League teams have the toughest draws?
The format of the Champions League means there is rarely such thing as a favourable draw.
Five of the six English teams competing in Europe’s top competition finished inside the top eight of the league phase, securing automatic progression to the last 16. Newcastle booked their place later after coming through the play-offs.
Several of Europe’s heavy hitters also finished outside the top eight and therefore faced the lottery of the play-offs – but, across two legs rather than the one-off games of the league stage, the higher-seeded teams generally came out on top.
That left the Premier League sides facing tough matches in the last 16, so is it really that surprising to see so few remaining?
Manchester City drew Real Madrid for the sixth time in seven Champions League campaigns and the 15-time winners brushed aside their patchy league form to progress 5-1 on aggregate.
Chelsea faced an uphill task against defending champions Paris St-Germain and were made to suffer with an 8-2 aggregate defeat.
Newcastle held their own against Barcelona and were in contention for 135 minutes of action but conceded four goals in the second half of the second leg to eventually lose 8-3 on aggregate.
It is perhaps unsurprising that relegation-threatened Tottenham were unable to break down European giants Atletico Madrid, eventually losing 7-5 across two legs.
Before the first legs, Opta predicted four of the six English teams would go through.
After the first leg, only Arsenal and Liverpool were tipped to progress, with that prediction ultimately coming to fruition – and it could be argued they each faced more favourable opponents in Bayer Leverkusen and Galatasaray.
Extra games = fatigue and more injuries?
Premier League managers have long complained about the number of games and lack of rest for their teams.
Finishing inside the top eight of the Champions League league phase meant avoiding the two play-off matches but, in what is already a packed schedule, that seems to have made little difference.
Following their European exit, Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior said his side were tired having played “over 100 games in 18 months with no break” because of the demands of domestic and international football.
City boss Pep Guardiola has often lamented the schedule, previously calling it a “disaster” for players, and cancelled training before his side’s second leg against Real in favour of a rest day.
Former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp also called for change, while his successor Arne Slot said the lack of a winter break in England is “not helpful”.
By contrast, the French, German and Spanish leagues enjoy winter breaks spanning 10-17 days.
By this point in the season, Premier League teams, particularly those still in cup competitions, have played more games than other clubs across Europe.
Of the teams who competed in the last 16 of the Champions League, the top eight players with the most minutes all represented Premier League clubs, with Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk top.
Inevitably, the demands of competing on all fronts takes its toll and that can also lead to more injuries, a problem Tottenham in particular have had to contend with.
Tougher competition in Premier League
The Premier League is often hailed as the toughest and most competitive in Europe, and the statistics tend to back that up.
According to Opta’s power rankings, Burnley – the lowest-ranked side – are tougher opposition than nine teams in Spain’s La Liga and 11 teams in Italy’s Serie A.
That means Europe’s top teams are able to prioritise the Champions League with less demanding matches domestically.
Squads can be rotated more frequently, with big players rested for the biggest games.
Real Madrid have struggled with injuries this season but have used 32 players in La Liga, indicating an ability to manage minutes to save players for European games.
Former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock told BBC Sport: “You can’t take your foot off the gas in the Premier League but it feels like you almost can in other leagues a little bit.
“PSG rested players to be ready for Chelsea, even though they are not having a great time of it in Ligue 1 at the moment.
“For Real Madrid, everything is about the Champions League, whereas in England it is about qualifying for the Champions League next year if you are not in the title race. It is a little bit different in the way the teams look at it.”
BBC Sport tactics correspondent Umir Irfan said: “Games in the Premier League are tiring affairs. Using ELO, a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players made famous in chess, the relative strength of teams in the Premier League are calculated as higher than their European counterparts.
“Simply put, the Premier League has more of the best teams outside of the Champions League places. The cliche, ‘anybody can beat anybody’ in the Premier League is closer to the truth than in La Liga or the Bundesliga. This makes rotation more costly for managers.”
But, while competition across the league might be tougher, inconsistency has also been a feature of this year’s Premier League as many teams struggled to string together sustained periods of good form.
“It’s difficult to really hang your hat on the Premier League being top notch at the moment,” former Tottenham midfielder Andy Reid said on BBC Radio 5 Live.
“I think it’s very bitty, very inconsistent. I think clubs are coming to these English grounds and thinking they can have a bit of a go.”
Set-pieces and long throws – the shift in style
There has been a notable shift in the style of play in the Premier League this season.
From possession, passing and slowly building chances to a more direct approach bolstered by set-pieces and the return of the long throw.
After 210 Premier League matches this campaign, Opta recorded an average number of 873.3 passes per game, the lowest since 2012-13 (868.7).
At the same point in the season, 166 of the 587 goals scored were from either corners, free-kicks or throw-ins – a huge 28.3%.
The number of long throws has also risen to an average of 3.97 per game, more than double the previous five seasons.
Do these trends point to a regression in tactics by Premier League teams, who now favour physicality and directness over technical prowess?
“With how physical English football is, teams have had to recruit powerful athletes to match up which at times may be at the expense of high-end technical quality,” added Irfan.
“For some, this gives them fewer solutions in attack as well as leaving them underprepared to defend against impressive technical ability on the ball, having seen it less often.
“This is not to say that the likes of Bayern Munich aren’t physical, they are, but with world-class players, who are able to refine their attacking schemes and improve their technique week-on-week, there is a clear challenge for Premier League sides to bridge the gap.”
Former Crystal Palace winger Andros Townsend said: “I think in the Champions League they’re more decisive on the counter-attack. If you make a mistake or lose the ball you get punished.
“That’s just football at the highest level – you’ll get punished more. In the Premier League it’s been a bit more cautious, a bit more men behind the ball, slow build-ups – the Champions League is the opposite.”
The financial power of the Premier League significantly outweighs other leagues and that, in theory, means better squad depth to be able to compete on all fronts.
But, up against a style that is becoming less frequent in the English domestic game, Premier League teams appear to be suffering on the continent.
But… is this actually just normal?
The Premier League’s power was supposedly emphasised by having six teams in the last 16, following the league stage and play-offs.
High hopes were then formed at the prospect of having a record number of English clubs in the quarter-finals – four progressed to the last eight in 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2018-19 but no nation has ever had more than that.
Instead only two remain in Europe’s premier competition.
However, that represents what could be considered a normal year, with two English teams progressing to the last eight in four of the past 10 seasons and, on three occasions, just one team.
More Premier League representation this year meant more opportunity but, in reality, the outcome does not stray far from the norm.
Reid said: “I do think there is a bit of arrogance around the Premier League. I don’t know whether it’s media, players or coaches, but I do think there’s a degree of arrogance towards some of the other leagues and the teams in them.
“You can’t underestimate them, they’re absolutely top. You go into those games and think you can run over the top of them and pass them off the park [but] you’ll quickly realise they can hit you, particularly on the counter-attack.
“There’s probably a level of arrogance of some of the teams thinking we can go toe-to-toe but then they concede goals really quickly.”
