A Premier League-weighted Champions League... with a curious twist

With the Champions League league phase now complete, English still dominates European football. Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester City are already waiting for their opponents in the round of 16, while only Newcastle, among the Premier League clubs, will have to go through the playoff – and only just, after the Magpies had enough chances to win in Paris (1–1). This near-clean sweep, this sense of hegemony and superiority from the Premier League, stands in stark contrast to the collapse suffered by the Spanish teams on the final matchday of the league phase.

Five of the six English teams that finished in the top eight won their games. Arsenal sealed a perfect campaign with a flawless qualification after beating Kairat Almaty 3–2, while Liverpool and Tottenham – both oddly mired in domestic form crises – cruised past Qarabag (6–0) and Eintracht Frankfurt (2–0). Chelsea labored in Naples but came back to win 3–2, and Pep Guardiola’s side took care of business at home against Galatasaray (2–0). LaLiga representatives, by contrast, endured a very different night.

Barcelona were the only side able to salvage Spanish pride, though even they had to recover from an early Copenhagen goal in a 3–1 win. The heavy defeats suffered by Real Madrid (4–2) and Atlético Madrid (2–1), which knocked both out of the top eight, were compounded by the eliminations of Athletic Club (3–2) and Villarreal (3–0). While England keeps all of its teams alive in Europe’s top competition, LaLiga is the only major European league to lose two representatives in one fell swoop.

England dominance while domestically challenged

The Premier League’s advantage is now so overwhelming that its teams do not even need to be playing well to impose themselves. Just look at the current form of the five sides that finished in the top eight, starting with Arsenal, who lead both in England and in Europe yet are on a three-game winless run domestically after their latest defeat to Manchester United – who, incidentally, are not playing in Europe this season.

The third- and fourth-placed teams from the league phase are in similar situations. Liverpool have gone five straight Premier League games without a win, while Spurs sit 14th on 28 points, closer to the relegation zone than to fourth place. Chelsea and Manchester City, meanwhile, have managed just two and one league victories respectively so far this year.

Across the six English teams – with Mikel Arteta’s side winning all eight games – they total just nine defeats. Villarreal alone, in a disastrous European campaign – second from bottom, level on one point with Kairat Almaty – lost five times. Add to that Barcelona’s two defeats, three each for Real Madrid and Atlético, and four for Athletic Club, and the picture is grim: 17 Spanish failures in the Champions League league phase of 2025–26. Many came in direct clashes between the Premier League and LaLiga, where the overall balance was a crushing 9–1 in favor of the English clubs.

While Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola celebrated their 200th and 400th wins respectively as Arsenal and City managers, and Chelsea became the English club with the most round-of-16 appearances in Champions League history (18), in Spain the mood is one of outright despair. Because the playoff not only costs two weeks of rest, but the blow to LaLiga could be even harsher if Bodø/Glimt, Benfica, Club Brugge or Galatasaray decide to press their advantage and deepen the wound.

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