The paradox of English football

Man United (right) has contrasting performance in domestic and continental competitions - Photo: REUTERS

They are Man United, Tottenham (Europa League) and Chelsea (Conference League). Barring a major surprise, English football will dominate the continent's two lower leagues.

It is a paradox that they have had a bad season in the Champions League. In the most prestigious tournament in Europe, the two leading flags of the Premier League, Man City and Liverpool, both had to leave early. Aston Villa played quite well when reaching the quarter-finals, but Arsenal were completely helpless against PSG.

The paradox is even greater when Man United and Tottenham are among the worst teams in the Premier League. They have been stuck in the bottom half of the table for most of the season, and at times, they have been in danger of relegation. But in the Europa League, they have been extremely consistent. Man United even went 14 games unbeaten.

The path of the "Red Devils" in the Europa League is not easy. They have to face Real Sociedad, Lyon and Athletic Bilbao - all of which are the top candidates for the championship in the tournament. All of the above teams are in better form than Man United, compared to the national championship. But the stronger the opponent, the better Man United plays. It is unbelievable that the "Red Devils" can crush Bilbao with a total score of 7-1.

Actually, it's an understandable paradox. Man United and Tottenham have been playing very badly in the domestic league, so they have long decided to give up on this arena to focus on the Europa League. In the Premier League, Man United have only won 1 out of the last 8 rounds. But even so, they still determined to stay in the league nearly 10 rounds early thanks to the fact that the 3 teams Southampton, Leicester and Ipswich Town are too weak. Tottenham is almost the same, with only 38 points after 35 rounds, 1 point less than Man United. Those are the worst seasons in the history of the two Premier League giants.

To see United’s advantage, look at where their opponents are. In La Liga, Athletic Bilbao are fourth, three points clear of the teams below them. In Ligue 1, Lyon are seventh but just three points behind the top four. With fierce domestic competition, it’s understandable why these teams are losing steam as they progress in the Europa League.

In a league as tough as the Premier League, staying fit is even more important. No team has suffered more injuries in the semi-finals than Arsenal, who were without at least five players in both legs of the semi-final. Manchester United are in no better shape, but they are still playing in the Europa League, where they are on a worse footing than they are.

Liverpool are not much better when it comes to spreading their ambitions across multiple arenas - a problem they face almost every season. It must be said that thanks to the early elimination from the Champions League, Arne Slot's team focused all their efforts on the Premier League and as a result, they won the championship early.

As players' health is increasingly eroded by the tight schedule, paradoxes like this season may appear more and more in the coming years.

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HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nghich-ly-bong-da-anh-20250510002840748.htm