The Premier League is dominating the Champions League

Premier League clubs had a perfect run in the 2025/26 Champions League. The giants from the foggy country won 5 and drew only 1.

No one was surprised by Arsenal's ease in defeating Slavia Prague (and keeping another clean sheet), nor by Tottenham's thrashing of Copenhagen and Man City's thrashing of Dortmund. There was some surprise, however, with Newcastle beating Bilbao, and even more shock, with a crisis-hit Liverpool beating Real, 15-time European champions who are on an impressive winning streak under Xabi Alonso.

English teams have played a total of 24 games so far. They have lost just three, two of which were against Bayern and Barca, and the other was a surprise defeat by Liverpool at Galatasaray. They have won 17 games (70%) and drawn four.

Arsenal won all and are the only team yet to concede in the 2025/26 Champions League.

Looking at the overall rankings after the 4th round of matches, Arsenal are sharing the top spot with Bayern and Inter, while Man City are 4th, Newcastle 6th and Liverpool 8th, Tottenham 10th, Chelsea 12th. Thus, 4/6 English clubs are in the top 8. The remaining two teams are not far behind. There is a complete English dominance here, as the remaining 4 places in the top 8 belong to 1 German club, 1 Spanish club, 1 Italian club and 1 French club.

It's no surprise that the Premier League is so dominant. Premier League clubs spent more than £3 billion on transfers this summer, more than the four major leagues combined. Liverpool spent £415 million alone, almost as much as the entire Ligue 1.

Not to mention Man City or Liverpool, even Newcastle easily spent tens of millions of pounds to recruit Malick Thiaw from Milan, Nick Woltemade from Stuttgart, or Tottenham spent more than 110 million pounds on three players Kevin Danso, Mathys Tel and Xavi Simons from Lens, Bayern and Leipzig, emphasizing the financial power of the Premier League.

Even when their strength was in doubt, Liverpool still beat Real.

In Europe, only a handful of teams, such as Real, PSG and possibly Barca and Bayern, can compete financially with the top 20 clubs in England. It is these teams that have the power on the pitch to cause trouble for the English. But these games against the big boys do not always happen, and because of the rule that clubs from the same country cannot meet each other in the qualifying rounds, it is easy to only have to face the rest.

So, while it is true that money isn’t everything in football, it is important, and can make a difference. This is evident in the UEFA coefficient table. After the fourth round of matches, England’s overall club coefficient over the last five seasons has passed the 100 mark, reaching 100,227 points, well ahead of Italy (88,658) and Spain (82,578).

Since this ranking is used to determine the places in UEFA competitions, the Premier League has become more dominant and more divided from the rest. Already flush with money, they become richer and can attract stars more easily. The rest, of course, will have a harder time. And there is nothing they can do but suffer.

Chelsea were the only English team without a win in the fourth round.

Current financial regulations fail to balance the balance, as it relates to revenue. English clubs continue to make a lot of money domestically and in European competitions, then use the money to assert their dominance.

The consolation for the rest of Europe is that this dominance is not often reflected in the trophy count. In the last 13 Champions League seasons, English clubs have won just three. If we look more broadly, in the 33 seasons since the tournament was renamed, England have won just seven.

But that's another story. And for now, England can be happy with the dominance they're creating.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/ngoai-hang-anh-dang-thong-tri-champions-league-post1793942.tpo