English clubs expect to reach the Champions League knockout stages, but the Premier League's high profile in the competition appears to be wavering
Sir Alex Ferguson took his disgruntlement straight from the dressing room to the press conference at the Stade Vélodrome. Regret over the goalless draw with Marseille in the Champions League cannot have been connected purely to the quality of the match. After all, the opposition's flaws must have been a relief and a pleasure to him in the away leg.
The manager was dissatisfied with his side. He had a case when Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov offered so little that the winger Nani must have been dismayed that his own excellence early in the night met with no response. Beneath all the introspection, however, lies an assumption that the Premier League clubs should always be to the fore. At this stage of the tournament at least that frame of mind is understandable.
The worst to have befallen English sides so far was the runners-up slot occupied by Arsenal after a couple of botched matches in Group H. It is taken for granted that La Liga outranks the Premier League and Barcelona, at their best, give that assumption plenty of credence. However, only three of the Spanish teams made it to the Champions League proper, with Sevilla eliminated by Braga in the third round of the qualifiers.
Even the novices from England appear, so far, to have mastered the competition. Tottenham Hotspur took a look around and concluded there was nothing to fear as they beat Milan at San Siro in the first leg of their tie. The Premier League is not at the very peak of its existence, but the years gone by have reinforced a mood of confidence that stays in place even as the faces change in a club's squad.
When Internazionale beat Bayern Munich to lift the Champions League trophy last year it was the first final since 2004 not to involve an English club. Know-how has been built up in these Premier League sides even if the line-ups change. It will matter to Ferguson that Ryan Giggs and Rio Ferdinand should be fit for the return with Marseille, a game in which Paul Scholes could well start.
Nonetheless, the English clubs in the tournament have achieved reliability more than greatness. United have won the European Cup on three occasions, a tally that has them trailing clubs such as Ajax and Bayern Munich, never mind Real Madrid. The Anfield crowd also issues frequent reminders of Liverpool's record on that front.
Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham have yet to lay their hands on the prize, although the latter club is excused on the grounds that it was challenge enough to get into the competition. In their different fashions, it is Chelsea and Arsenal who have gone furthest in adapting themselves to the Champions League milieu. Arsène Wenger, to be precise, had simply to follow instincts that prize not merely ball retention but the flowing movement that exposes defences.
That type of project is almost unimaginable at Chelsea, a club so inherently volatile that it could not stop itself from alienating José Mourinho, a manager who is still only 48 and may, at Real Madrid, win the Champions League for the third time with a side from a third different country. The restless craving for the Champions League often seems a barrier to Chelsea's attaining it.
The club is on its sixth manager since September 2000, although it was no fault of Chelsea's that Guus Hiddink stuck to his commitment and returned to managing Russia. Carlo Ancelotti, the incumbent at Stamford Bridge, has won silverware while exercising a steadying influence. If the decay in the squad is underlined by patchy results in the Premier League, there is hope that a special impact is being reserved for the Champions League.
Chelsea, however, not only have older players but count on them as the key to victory. Ancelotti has been extolling Didier Drogba, despite the fact that the Ivorian turns 33 next month and is the subject of transfer rumours. Signing Fernando Torres for £50m was intended as an act of rejuvenation for Chelsea.
United, to some extent, have looked to an old guard but Ferguson is also seeing impact from Nani, a winger in his fourth year at the club although he is still only 24. While the manager ought to dread the day when Scholes and Giggs retire, there is a concerted effort at revitalisation. A newcomer such as Chris Smalling is starting to look more of a contender for the team than a cover for the old guard.
Arsenal should be making an impact on the Champions League, but the return leg of the tie with Barcelona is particularly forbidding. With Chelsea short of dynamism and Tottenham still getting acquainted with the tournament, it is United who seem England's most forceful contender. By and large, though, the high profile enjoyed by Premier League sides in the competition appears to be wavering as power swings towards Real as well as Barcelona.
Source: Kevin McCarra, The Guardian on 24 Feb 11
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