Premier League clubs better than Spanish La liga teams as they dominate in Champions League, there has been a debate for sometime now that the EPL is a stronger league than the Spanish La Liga but, with Liverpool’s victory over Bayern Munich, Premier League teams will make up half of the quarter-final field for the first time since 2009.
For the first time since 2008-09, four English teams have advanced to the quarter-final round of the Champions League. Liverpool toppled Bayern 3-1 on Wednesday in Munich to seal their spot in the quarter-finals after holding the Bundesliga side to a scoreless draw in the opening leg.
With the loss, Bayern Munich failed to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time since the 2010-11 campaign while English clubs continued their dominance in the competition this season. The Reds join Tottenham, Manchester United and Manchester City in the final eight, giving the Premier League half of the final eight remaining in the competition.
Spurs battered Borussia Dortmund 4-0 on aggregate with Harry Kane, Son Heung-min, Jan Vertonghen and Fernando Llorente scoring over the two legs. Manchester United stunned Paris Saint-Germain following a 2-0 first leg loss, winning 3-1 in France via a late Marcus Rashford penalty kick.
Their crosstown rivals, Manchester City, meanwhile, had it much more easy, smashing Schalke 10-2 on aggregate in a tie that included a 7-0 second leg victory. As a result, England will have four representatives going forward, joining Juventus, Ajax, Barcelona and Porto in the final eight.
“It is good for English football. That’s what you want,” James Milner told BT Sport following Liverpool’s win. “We don’t know who we are going to get in the next round, but we have good feelings from last year so hopefully we can carry that on and go as far as we can.”
Liverpool were the lone English side to go out in the quarters that year, falling 7-5 to Chelsea on aggregate, while Manchester United and Arsenal topped Porto and Villarreal, respectively, to advance.
Manchester United then topped the Gunners in the semi-finals while Chelsea fell to Barca, paving the way for the Spanish side to take home the title behind goals from Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi. The draw for this year’s quarter-final round is set for Friday.