Chapter 33: The Premier League
In the 2007-08 Champions League, the Premier League teams reached the pinnacle, not that there are three Premier League teams in the Champions League semi-finals, and the Champions League must be called the Premier League era. A few years ago www.biquge.info, there were three Serie A teams in the semi-finals of the Champions League, and I didn't hear anyone call that season the Serie A era.
This time is different, though.
The Premier League's dominance of the Champions League is no longer limited to the number of teams in the last four, but also in the Premier League's tough and fast style, which has overwhelmed the delicate femininity of La Liga and the calm tenacity of Serie A.
With a strong performance in the European competition, England has once again surpassed La Liga in the UEFA league coefficient ranking for the first time in 22 years.
Both financially and athletically, Premier League clubs have been at their peak this season.
Since its inception in 1960, the UEFA League Rankings have been widely recognized as the most authoritative reference for European league power rankings. For nearly half a century, only the four major leagues in England, Spain, Italy and Germany have been able to reach the top of the standings. The last time the old League One topped the table was in 1985, but the Heysel tragedy and a five-year ban from the English league left England in 21st place after a comeback in European competition.
However, since the inception of the Premier League, the English league has also risen in the Europa League coefficient list, entering the 21st century England has risen to 5th place, in the past three years is step by step, after successively surpassing Italy and Spain to secure the top spot before the Champions League final this season.
As of May 15, in this season's standings, the Premier League is 3.750 points ahead of La Liga and 7.375 points more than Serie A, and the lead is obvious and unprecedented in the past five years.
Looking at the Champions League alone, the Premier League semi-finals have earned 95 points so far this season, La Liga has 75 points, and the third-ranked Bundesliga has 68 points, and the gap is also obvious. In this season's club coefficient rankings, Blackburn and Manchester United occupy the top two places in the rankings without any suspense, especially Blackburn, the only one who is still unbeaten, has a very obvious lead, and is currently the only team with a coefficient of 30 points, while the top five Premier League clubs account for 3 places, and the top 10 are half of the country (Arsenal 8th, Everton 10th).
If you look at the overall performance of the five seasons, Blackburn beat AC Milan and won the top spot with nearly 4 points, and the top six Premier League families on the list are all listed!
It's no wonder that the Premier League has overtaken it as a whole.
There has long been a saying among the people that there is a "food chain" in European football, that is, the Premier League and Serie A, Serie A and La Liga, and La Liga and the Premier League, and this law has been fulfilled again this season.
Manchester United won three and drew one of their four meetings with Roma, and kept the Serie A runners-up out of the semi-finals, and the old revenge of Roma 1:7 can only add a few more blood debts. Chelsea beat Serie A champions Inter Milan in the round of 16; Blackburn Rovers also knocked out reigning Champions League champions AC Milan in the first knockout stage and kept the Rossoneri clean out over two legs.
It can be said that Serie A's worst all-round defeat in the Champions League in the past four seasons is directly related to the Premier League team.
Some fans joked that the rules mentioned above were still applicable in previous seasons, and the rules of this season were: Premier League Serie A, Premier League La Liga, Premier League Bundesliga, Premier League Ligue 1.
It's an exaggeration, but it's not without truth.
Looking at the record of the Premier League's "four families" in the Champions League, Chelsea's record against the Bundesliga and La Liga clubs is 2 wins and 2 draws; Manchester United's record against La Liga and Ligue 1 is 2 wins and 2 draws; Blackburn's record against Ligue 1 is 2 wins and a goal difference of 5; Arsenal do have the upper hand with a 1-1 record against La Liga.
The Premier League's strength in the Champions League is by no means a sudden explosion this season. Since the 2003-04 season, there have been four consecutive Champions League finals featuring English clubs, and in the last two seasons, the Premier League has grabbed three places in the last four of the Champions League.
Kevin Keegan had said "the Premier League is boring" at the end of the season, meaning that the "Big Four" have always dominated the top four in the domestic league, and it is true that this has happened four times in the Premier League in the past five seasons, so that the four families can still play side by side in the Champions League.
Such a stable campaign in Europe's top leagues has enabled the "four families" to accumulate rich experience in European, double-line and even multi-front operations, which is the key to the Premier League's stable and excellent results in the Champions League in recent years.
At club level, the most beautiful game in the world can theoretically only take place between a limited number of teams. The first choice would have been Real Madrid vs. Barcelona a few seasons ago - remember, a few seasons ago, the Real Madrid team with Zinedine Zidane, Figo, Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos, and the Barcelona team with Ronaldinho and Eto'o at the peak of his form, Deco, not Real Madrid and Barcelona today.
Secondly, it is the AC Milan team where Kaka and Shevchenko are both playing, and Pirlo and Inzaghi are still playing, and the collision of several aces in La Liga and the Premier League.
And now, playing well is clearly no longer the fashion in European football.
After the "Galaxy Fleet", Real Madrid has fewer and fewer people who can really be called stars, and Schuster's disciples are paying more and more attention to strength, fighting and defense.
AC Milan are still struggling to qualify for next season's Champions League due to ageing and decay. With the exception of Kaka and Pato, who belonged to tomorrow, the glory of the Milanese dynasty can only be preserved in the memory of the people.
Chelsea are playing harder and harder, with Blackburn simply harder than Italian concrete. The reborn Arsenal Gunners are still elegant, but they have to stay away from the top of the Premier League and Champions League.
Bayern, the only one worth mentioning outside the three major leagues of West, England and Italy, is not high in technical content, and it is getting worse and worse.
Today, with Real Madrid's makeover, Barcelona and AC Milan sinking day by day, the arrival of the Premier League era is irreversible.
In such a prosperous era of the Premier League, Blackburn Rovers is determined to be the king of kings and regain the Premier League championship after a year!
Blackburn, Manchester United and Chelsea progressed to the last four of the Champions League, but the London side of Chelsea and Arsenal wasted too much energy in the two legs of the Champions League London derby, resulting in a weak league in the immediate aftermath.
In the 34th round of the Premier League after returning to China, Arsenal, who ended first in the big4, was unexpectedly forced to draw 1:1 by Middlesbrough at home, and the situation was worrying.
In the ensuing game, Manchester United won 1-0 thanks to Paul Scholes' cold shot, creating huge pressure on Blackburn in front of him. Chelsea have been over-spent in the Champions League, drawing away to the Toffees with goals from Benayoun and Nicolas Anelka against Everton, and the format of the contest is also uncertain.
Compared with the dilemma of Manchester United and Chelsea, Blackburn's rotation is much more luxurious, and the vast majority of the main players in the current squad are veterans who have won the Champions League and the Premier League in previous seasons.
Eventually, after Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring in the 32nd minute to break the deadlock, Didier Drogba and Fernando Torres combined to open the scoring, and Frank Lampard added the icing on the cake in the final moments, as Blackburn Rovers won 4-0 to show who was the king of the Premier League.
After 34 league games, Blackburn have 83 points, Manchester United is second in the league with 78 points, Chelsea is third with three points, and the gap between Arsenal and Blackburn, who have not won all three points, has widened to 13 points, and has completely bid farewell to the Premier League title this season.
After this round, the league title will be decided between Blackburn Rovers, Manchester United and Chelsea, but defending champions Chelsea, who currently look eight points behind the Blues, have more of a role to play.
On April 20, the 35th round of the English Premier League ended the focus of the competition, and Manchester United, who visited White Hart Lane, relied on Tevez's last-minute header to score a thrilling 1:1 draw with Tottenham. Owen slotted home in the first half before Quaresma hit the post with a shot and Wayne Rooney missed a great chance, but James, who made a number of crucial saves with great courage, was unable to keep out the 'Argentine Beast' final blow and Carlos Tevez saved the Reds with an 88th-minute header.
However, for Manchester United, failing to take all three points is a failure.
At the same time, Chelsea at home to Stamford Bridge beat their opponents 2-0 and are currently one point behind the Red Devils, adding to the suspense of the title.
In this round of games, relying on Ballack's brace, Blackburn defeated Liverpool 2-1 to extend the Premier League's unbeaten home record to 81 games. In the 8th minute of the opening game, Carragher was kicked off the field by Drogba. In the 21st minute, Duff hit the post with a shot.
In first-half stoppage time, Ballack received a pass from Drogba and scored with a header to open the door for the Blue Devils!
In the 57th minute, Carvalho returned a low-level mistake to give a gift, and Voronin broke the ball to equalize. In the 86th minute, a penalty was awarded for handball in the Hyypia penalty area, and Ronaldo sealed the win.
The Blues widened the gap between the Blues and Manchester United to seven points with only three league games remaining, and Blackburn's hopes of regaining the Premier League title were raised.
Manchester United only have one last chance left, and that is the next round of league games against Blackburn.
Manchester United won, the points between the two teams have been reduced to four points, and with two league games remaining, the Red Devils theoretically have a last chance to fight.
With the two teams tied and Chelsea won, the Blues still have one last chance of a theoretical comeback.
A Blackburn win would give the Blues another lift the Barclays Cup.
Whether Blackburn can win the Premier League depends on the next round of direct dialogue between the red and blue devils! (To be continued.) )