Between 1975 and 1985, nine English teams played in the final of the European Cup, and eight times an English team lifted the trophy. This period of dominance surely would have continued through Liverpool or Everton had English teams not been banned from the competition for five years after Heysel. Manchester United, Norwich, Spurs and Southampton had also been due to compete in European competition that year. England were top dogs in Europe, and it seemed sure that one of our clubs would be at the forefront of continental football throughout this time period.

Between then and 1999, when Manchester United brought European glory back to England, the title had been held by Italian clubs five times, and Spanish clubs three times. English football had been pushed aside, and our style didn’t seem fitting with those which were successful in Europe. We had to wait a further six years before an English team made it to the final, with Spanish football ruling the roost.

Not to take anything away from Arsenal and Liverpool, who have aided bringing some credibility back to us, but it was clear that these teams were not amongst the very best in Europe. On winning the European Cup in 2005, Liverpool FC weren’t even the best club in Liverpool, trailing three points behind local rivals Everton, and a massive thirty seven points behind the English champions. Arsenal on making the European Cup final last season just managed to scrape fourth place on the last day thanks to a bout of food poisoning in the Spurs camp.

However, it can’t be ignored on paper that English sides are starting to get a hold on the game played in the Champions League, and this season, it is better displayed than ever. All four English teams top their group so far, and two of our teams’ strikers, Louis Saha and Didier Drogba, have scored the most goals in the competition. It begs the question, can this form continue, and can we have another English club as finalists, or even winners?

All four teams have had plenty of European experience, especially recently, and it seems as though this might finally be paying off. Breaking it down, club by club, we can see that Chelsea of course have a far superior squad to the others in England, and likely, most if not all the teams competing in Europe. The additions of Ballack and Shevchenko surely have to boost their chances. In the clubs history, they’ve failed to make it to a final, but when looking at Chelsea’s team sheet on Wednesday,

they seem to have frighteningly good prospects. Cech, Terry, Lampard, Ballack and Essien starting, with Ashley Cole, Robben, and Makelele on the bench! The toughest test for them will be when they face Barcelona, who although just dropped points to a team Chelsea have already beaten, will be well up for a grudge match against the boys in blue.

Manchester United probably stand as second favourites out of the English teams to work their magic. After the embarrassment of last season’s early exit, they are desperate to do well for the reputation of the club, as well as the fans. So far, two pretty average performances, but two wins nevertheless. It is never an easy game going to play Benfica away, especially without your most influential player of the season so far, Giggs, and without his replacement even, Park. Still, Louis Saha, who most felt would not be able to fill Ruud’s shooting boots in Europe, has done nothing but impress, his goals winning the games they’ve played. United are still settling in with a new team full of new players, and are without their highest goalscorer of the previous season. This hasn’t dampened the hunger at the club for success though. Inspirational and driven Gary Neville is determined for some more silverware under his reign as captain before he retires, whilst players like Rooney and Ronaldo, at the ages of 20 and 21, are already two of the best in the World, and eager to put their name on the map.

Liverpool haven’t had a great start to the season domestically wise, currently lying in 7th in the league, and have failed to pick up maximum points in the CL so far, thanks to a dull 0-0 draw against PSV. However, this is not a reason for Liverpool fans to be too glum, as back in 2005 they just scraped through the group stages and had a poor season in the Premiership, but that didn’t stop them going on to win the competition. Crouch scored a cracking goal against Galatasary, and it seems to make sense, especially in Europe, to play Crouch alongside Kuyt. Crouch adds something different, if not a little weird, to the Liverpool side, and he could be a great bonus for them this season. However, it would be too much good luck for this Liverpool side to win the CL again. Most of this current Liverpool side wouldn’t be worthy to clean the boots of the great 1970s team.

Arsenal seem a couple of years off the mark at the moment. After a woeful start in the league, they seem to be concentrating their efforts on Europe again. Wenger is definitely keen on building a team for the future, and with young talents like Fabregas, van Persie and Eboue coming through the team, then they are surely going to be one to watch for the future, but right now, the Arsenal side seems to lack quality and depth. Of course the highpoint for them is holding on to Thierry Henry, who really makes the difference between Arsenal being great or being poor at times, however, I think this season it will be too much weight for him to carry.

However, the beauty of football is you never know what’s going to happen. In the past two seasons, Liverpool and Arsenal have both gone further than any other team in England, in the same seasons that they did worse than all the English teams in the league. The set up of the European Cup is both a blessing and a curse. Blessing because every year is open, and you never know who’s going to win (for example, a few seasons ago, nobody would have predicted that Porto and Monaco would meet in the final), but a curse because it’s not a conclusive way of finding the best team in Europe. How can a team only be the fifth in

their domestic league, whilst also the best team of Europe? Quite simply, they can’t. Last season was a rare season in recent years when a team who you could truly say were the best team (or at least in the top two) on the continent won the competition. Let’s hope the next champions, whether they are an English club or not, can live up to the high standards left by Barcelona last season. The emphasis on champions needs to be put back in to this competition, and I want to see a team who plays well consistently all season, a team who plays beautiful and exciting football, and essentially, a team that just really deserves it, to be crowned champions this year.

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