The Premier League was mocked after a brutal Champions League collapse – now it is one step from a historic European sweep

Europe still speaks English. And it will do so right to the end. Or rather, the finals. All three of them.

Not so long ago, the Premier League took several hits. Manchester City, Tottenham, Chelsea and Newcastle were knocked out in the Champions League last 16, three of them by Spanish teams – Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid and Barcelona – and two of those exits came with heavy defeats. English soccer faced a barrage of criticism.

Even so, time has ended up proving right what most people consider to be the best league in the world. The Premier League has made history in Europe.

Three English teams in three European finals

Arsenal, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace will represent English soccer in Europe’s three showpiece games. For the first time in history, three English teams will play in the finals of the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League.

Mikel Arteta’s side booked their ticket to Budapest against Atlético Madrid (1-0), while the other Spanish coach in a final, Unai Emery, did the same against Nottingham Forest (4-0). In his case, the destination is Istanbul. In Leipzig, Íñigo Pérez’s Rayo Vallecano will meet Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace (2-1).

The Premier League was already on course for such a feat when, after the league phases of the three continental competitions, all nine English teams involved reached the knockout rounds.

Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester City went straight through in the Champions League – Newcastle finished 12th, two points off the top eight – while Aston Villa finished second in the Europa League league phase. After the playoff round, all of them – the Magpies, Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace included – made it to the last 16.

Even though almost half of the English sides fell in one blow, four of the remaining representatives reached the semifinals across the three competitions: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace. Three made the finals.

The Premier League, the first league to secure an extra place in the 2026-27 Champions League, could still have six teams in next season’s edition of Europe’s top competition for the second campaign running. English superiority is beyond question.

From Guipúzcoa to Europe

North London is still celebrating after Arsenal, led by Guipúzcoa-born Arteta, reached their first Champions League final in 20 years. It is only the second in the London club’s history.

They did it with suffering and controversy, but the Premier League leaders will face Luis Enrique’s PSG in Budapest with the aim of lifting the first Champions League trophy in their history. They reached the final after winning every game in the league phase and without losing a single match across the three knockout rounds.

Aston Villa’s qualification for Istanbul 2026 is just as historic. Another man from Guipúzcoa, this one from Hondarribia, has done it again. “Mr. Unai Emery,” as Aston Villa themselves wrote on social media.

Emery has now reached six Europa League finals as a coach. While he will try to win his fifth European crown – the same trophy he lifted with Sevilla and Villarreal, and lost only with Arsenal – Villa, who have won 10 straight European games at Villa Park, will play their first European final since 1982. That was the year they won the European Cup and the European Super Cup.

Crystal Palace add the final flourish

Crystal Palace supplied the finishing touch for the English. Without a Spanish coach, but with Spain international Yeremy Pino in the squad, the Eagles continue to make history under Glasner.

Last season, he won the first two trophies in the London club’s history – the FA Cup and Community Shield – and this season, his last at Selhurst Park, the German wants to leave “proud south London” on the highest possible note. For now, he has already led the Eagles to their first European final.

The outcome of those three finals could also mean another major English presence in Europe next season. As BBC Sport explains, nine Premier League teams could again travel across the continent: the top four, plus the extra Champions League place, two Europa League teams – or one if Aston Villa win the tournament and finish fifth – another side in the Conference League, and possibly Crystal Palace, 15th in the league, if they win Europe’s third competition.

Against Rayo Vallecano, the only Spanish representative in the three continental finals, the Premier League could end 2025-26 with a hat-trick of European titles.

All this comes just one year after Manchester United and Tottenham met in Bilbao in the Europa League final, and after Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea dethroned Real Betis in Wroclaw to win the 2024-25 Conference League.

As they wait to see what happens in Budapest, Istanbul and Leipzig, the Premier League can puff out its chest. Meanwhile, Spanish LaLiga may need a little more self-criticism.

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