Premier League clubs stumble in Europe's Champions League groups

The English Premier League is the most competitive division in the world. Yet when it comes to European competition, English clubs often look very weak and lose to modest sides with no serious title ambitions.

The first two rounds of the Champions League group stage offered a clear example. Four English teams were taking part in the most prestigious European tournament: Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City.

Arsenal were the clearest example of the English crash in Europe. The Gunners lost both of their first two games, and, more shockingly, they lost them to Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiakos. Arsenal’s chances of reaching the last 16 no longer looked as good as they had a month earlier. Arsene Wenger’s side clearly had serious problems in defence, and it would take a minor miracle for The Gunners to take anything from their matches against Bayern Munich, who looked a far stronger side.

Chelsea started well, beating Maccabi Tel Aviv 4-0, but on their visit to Porto their defensive weakness was exposed as they lost 1-2. Dynamo Kyiv are a good team, and The Blues could have difficulties against the Ukrainian club. The Londoners still looked unlikely to miss out on the next phase of the Champions League, but the defeat deepened The Blues’ crisis and could affect who they would meet in the last 16.

The Red Devils lost 1-2 to PSV Eindhoven in their first group match and then beat Wolfsburg 2-1, although they hardly deserved the three points after handing the initiative to opponents who simply lacked luck in front of goal. Competing in four tournaments could end with Manchester United winning no trophy at all that season unless they improved away from home and learned to hold on to a lead. Van Gaal recognised as much, saying that The Red Devils needed to improve in order to win a league or a cup that season.

Manchester City fared little better. The lost 1-2 to Juventus showed that The Citizens were still not ready to challenge for the Champions League trophy. That defeat was followed by another in the Premiership, revealing a lack of confidence among Pellegrini’s players. In the second round City beat Borussia M’gladbach 2-1, but it was not a convincing performance, and once again Aguero rescued The Citizens’ ambitions with a last-minute goal.

English teams were struggling against sides with little tradition and few quality players, which suggested that the English clubs were not good enough to compete with the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. It would be no surprise if no English club reached the quarter-finals of the tournament. The remedy was clear: English clubs had to stop underestimating opponents, because they were showing an arrogant attitude on the pitch against teams such as Olympiakos.

How the group stage ended

Three of the four English clubs recovered enough to reach the knockout rounds. Arsenal beat Bayern Munich 2-0 at home on 20 October 2015, were then beaten 5-1 in Munich on 4 November and kept their hopes alive with a 3-0 home win over Dinamo Zagreb. On the final matchday, 9 December, Olivier Giroud scored a hat-trick in a 3-0 win away to Olympiakos, and Arsenal finished second in Group F behind Bayern, level on nine points with the Greek side.

Chelsea topped Group G with 13 points, ahead of Dynamo Kyiv and Porto, who dropped into the Europa League. Manchester City won Group D with 12 points despite losing both games against Juventus, finishing a point ahead of the Italian side. Manchester United were the exception: a 3-2 defeat away to Wolfsburg on 8 December left them third in Group B with eight points and sent them into the Europa League.

The knockout rounds

The last 16 confirmed much of the gloom. Chelsea lost 4-2 on aggregate to Paris Saint-Germain, and Arsenal went out 5-1 on aggregate to Barcelona. Manchester City went further than any other English club, beating Dynamo Kyiv 3-1 on aggregate and Paris Saint-Germain 3-2 in the quarter-finals before losing the semi-final 1-0 on aggregate to Real Madrid. Real Madrid went on to lift the trophy, beating Atletico Madrid 5-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the final at San Siro on 28 May 2016.