English golden era beckons

Italian football must be sick of the sight of English teams in European competition this season.

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And the way things are panning out the same could well apply for the rest of the continent.

This is the only conclusion to be drawn from an extraordinary UEFA Champions League campaign that has four teams from the Premiership in the quarter-finals.

Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United have beaten AC Milan, Inter and Roma in their own backyards the last few weeks to dispel any doubts about the supremacy of the Premiership over Serie A at the moment.

The strength of English football is such that if Arsenal and Liverpool had not been drawn together in the quarter-finals, the Pemiership would have been entitled to fancy its chances of having four teams in the semi-finals for the first time in history.

Such an achievement would have proved quite unequivocally that there is nothing basically wrong with the oft-berated English game although the influence of foreign players is there for all to see and cannot be overstated.

England’s recent progress at club level is reminiscent of its glory days in the late 1970s and early 1980s when European football was dominated by English clubs, who won seven Champions' Cups in eight memorable seasons from 1977... and a few Cup Winners' Cups and UEFA Cups for good measure, too.

Although English clubs have been knocking on the door for at least a decade now, regular success on the continent has eluded them and it was only two flukes from United in 1999 and Liverpool in 2005 that gave England its only titles in 20 years.

However, current form would suggest that this is about to change.

English football was seen as the best in Europe several times and the most entertaining on other occasions. But never has it been the best and the most appealing at the same time as it is now.

With all respect to the might of the then first division in England, European football was still licking its wounds in the post-total football era when the likes of Liverpool, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa came along.

Serie A was coming to terms with the fact that catenaccio as a tactical ploy had become outdated, La Liga was ruled by too much brutality and too many sub-standard imports and the Bundesliga was unable to maintain the standards set in the first half of the 70s by men like Franz Beckenbauer, Paul Breitner and Gerd Muller for club and country.

English football was undoubtedly the strongest in Europe but the paucity if the opposition meant that it was never really tested.

The same applies today in a way.

Italian football is so bland it is almost unwatchable and if pedestrian Inter are supposed to be the best team in Serie A then Calcio has major problems.

The season in Spain has been described as one of the worst in history and a very ordinary Real Madrid side is expected to prevail against an even more ordinary Barcelona.

Germany’s clubs continue to draw Europe’s biggest crowds to their modern stadiums but the dismal quality of the Bundesliga is reflected in its regular failure to leave its mark in Europe.

The premiership, meanwhile, is flourishing thanks mainly to the magnificent football Manchester United and Arsenal can produce at home and abroad.

Some might argue that the sheer efficiency of that formidable 70s Liverpool side of Alan Hansen, Kenny Dalglish and Graeme Souness has yet to be emulated by the current Premiership elite.

But the likes of Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest, Everton, Tottenham and Manchester City, who all tasted European success at the time, would have struggled to hold their own against today’s Big Four comprising the filthy rich Red Devils, Gunners, Blues and Reds.

Those days, remember, the only foreigners to play in England were mainly inexpensive Scandinavians nobody else wanted.

Chelsea and Liverpool have reached the last four of the competition after the return quarter-finals on Wednesday (AEST).

Liverpool went into the Anfield leg with confidence after holding out for a 1-1 draw in London last week.

Much was said about Liverpool’s refusal to come out of their shell at The Emirates but in fairness they played a superb tactical match and gave the Gunners very little space where they could weave their extravagant football.

Chelsea must have been kicking themselves for losing to stubborn Fenerbahce in Istanbul after dominating for long periods but a 2-1 defeat away is actually not a bad result and John Terry’s boys overturned it at home.

The other two semi-finals appear to be more straight-forward.

United did particularly well to beat Roma 2-0 at the Stadio Olimpico although the result was unkind to the Italians.

Playing a diligent game of containment, Sir Alex Ferguson’s men defended magnificently all night and stole the game with two goals from deadly duo Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney.

United’s attack is the most lethal in the world at the moment but many people fail to realise how accomplished they have become at the back. The bad old days of costly, comical defending are well and truly over.

Barcelona take a 1-0 lead over Schalke 04 to the Nou Camp and it is hard to see the Germans come out of the hole they dug themselves into.

Barca’s hopes for eventual glory were dealt a massive blow when Brazilian ace Ronaldinho was ruled out for the rest of the season after tearing a muscle in his right leg at training last week.

The good news for Barca is that Argentine whiz Lionel Messi is just about ready to return from a six-week layoff after he tore a thigh muscle in the round of 16 clash with Celtic.

If everything goes according to form Barca will face United in a mouth-watering semi-final while Liverpool or Arsenal will come up against Chelsea or Fenerbahce.

It’s looking more and more like a first all-English final.

ENGLAND’S GOLDEN ERA IN EUROPEAN CUP:

1977: Liverpool beat Borussia Monchengladbach 3-1 in Rome final

1978: Liverpool beat Bruges 1-0 in London final

1979: Nottingham Forest beat Malmo in Munich final

1980: Nottingham Forest beat Hamburg 1-0 in Madrid final

1981: Liverpool beat Real Madrid 1-0 in Paris final

1982: Aston Villa beat Bayern Munich 1-0 in Rotterdam final

1984: Liverpool beat Roma on penalties in Rome final

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