The Premier League dominated Europe on all fronts in the 2018/19 football season, setting a record in the process. Europe’s major elite club competitions had 4 all finalists emerge from English Premier League in the 2018/19 season.
The UEFA Champions League saw Liverpool and Tottenham fighting for the holy grail of European club football while the Europa League final saw Chelsea and Arsenal fight for the honors.
Very few fans would have thought of this when the season commenced seeing how their rivals in other leagues had invested heavily with eyes on the European honors.
Regardless, the English boys were determined to prove a point in Europe and achieved it in record fashion. It remains to be seen if such a feat will ever be repeated in the two major European football club competitions soon or in the faraway future.
Nevertheless, the efforts of the elite managers who took these clubs to the final stage must not be downplayed. Liverpool lost last year’s UCL final to Real Madrid and Klopp stated that his side would be back.
All he needed was some major reinforcements and his Reds came back in style, made it to a consecutive UCL final and won the title.
They still appear formidable and good enough to make it to the same stage next season. They were simply efficient as all departments on the pitch delivered.
Tottenham had some sort of a fairytale run under Mauricio Pochettino after a slow start to the competition. They had to come from behind and stun favorites Manchester City, eliminating them from the competition.
They also showed determination in eliminating Ajax who were the surprise package of the competition. The Eredivisie giants had dealt ruthlessly with the likes of Real Madrid and Juventus
before then.
Arsenal and Chelsea under the likes of Unai Emery and Maurizio Sarri respectively appeared too big for the Europa League competition and they proved it by making it to the final.
Chelsea had to survive a scare from Eintracht Frankfurt by the way. Regardless, the Blues romped to a 4:1 win over their local rivals in the finals.
After dominating for the 2018/19 season, will the English clubs be able to sustain? Liverpool and Manchester City still appear good on paper. Chelsea and Tottenham still have a lot of work to do to stake a claim as possible favorites next term.
However, rivals in other leagues won’t just stand and watch next season. They’re beginning to show intent with the quality of players they’re going after in the summer transfer window.
The English boys have their jobs well cut out for them in the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League. We’ll see if they can withstand the pressure that will be piled on them.
