Nine from Nine: Why are English Sides Dominating Continental Football?

English Excellence: Premier League Sides Continue European Dominance

Nine out of nine. That is the number of English sides that qualified for the round of 16 of the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League – a 100% qualification ratio.

For context, that has never been achieved in football history – no nation with more than seven clubs across the various UEFA competitions has ever seen every single one survive the group stage and knockout play-off rounds to reach the proper knockout rounds.

Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest looked to have put this record in jeopardy – Forest in particular looked ragged when 2-0 down at home to Fenerbahce but recovered well in the second half to ensure that England’s newfound dominance in Europe was undebatable.

All nine English teams that are playing in major European competition this season have qualified for the last-16.

Champions League
◉ Arsenal ✅
◉ Liverpool ✅
◉ Tottenham ✅
◉ Chelsea ✅
◉ Man City ✅
◉ Newcastle ✅

Europa League
◉ Aston Villa ✅
◉ Nottingham Forest…

— Squawka (@Squawka) February 26, 2026

Three of the last seven Champions League winners have been English, while both the Europa and Conference Leagues are held by Tottenham and Chelsea, respectively – how has the small archipelago of the United Kingdom come to be such a dominant force on the continent?

Money Talks

Funding very clearly plays a big role in how well nations are represented in continental competition – there is a reason that Italy has only managed to pick up two continental trophies since Inter Milan’s 2010 Champions League triumph – and neither has been another UCL, with Atalanta lifting the Europa League and Roma the Conference League.

This is because Italian sides rely heavily on broadcast income and player sales to stay in the green, meaning that there is far less money to invest when transfer windows come around.

English sides benefit from eye-watering sums of money coming from every possible outlet you can imagine – TV deals, club investments, matchday revenues, commercial income, you name it. The difference between Italian football and English football is that in England, the money coming from these alternate forms of income is more than enough to supplement the running of the club, while in Italy, they barely break the surface.

As such, English sides have more money to spend on players – even Forest are able to spend big these days, splashing over £200 million on reinforcements ahead of their unexpected European campaign.

Italian football is dead and buried

— joni🕸️ (@jonni_mann) February 24, 2026

For contrast, Bologna, who themselves had a breakout season last campaign which included winning their first major silverware since 1974, spent just £50. Despite placing higher in the league and winning more silverware than Nottingham Forest, they only spent a quarter of what their English counterparts did in the transfer window, a stark illustration of the difference in funding between both nations.

So when it comes to the outfits competing in the Champions League, it really is no competition – of the five Premier League teams who competed in the league phase, four of them managed to automatically qualify for the last 16, with only Newcastle failing to bypass the knockout play-off round.

Even so, their 9-2 aggregate hiding of Qarabag underscored just how large the gulf is between English sides and representatives of lesser nations. Moreover, the performance levels against sides from elsewhere in Europe’s top five leagues indicate that regardless of which English sides are drawn against, they will be considered favourites more often than not.

However, it would be unfair to say that the sole reason behind English dominance in Europe is money – after all, the Premier isn’t known as the best league in the world for nothing.

Tactical Superiority

The tactics, systems and setups used across the Premier League vary hugely, with such diversity rarely seen elsewhere in world football. Elite managers from all backgrounds arrive each year, bringing with them their own unique takes on the game, with each and every season providing a new unknown challenge which sides must solve.

The necessity to be adaptable and be able to face any given style of play week in, week out means Premier League sides are well equipped to deal with the respective problems posed by foreign leagues.

Once again using Italy as an example, the Serie A has a reputation for being played at an infinitely lower tempo than the Premier League, with sides preferring a tactically astute approach rather than developing sequences on the fly.

In the past, this has manifested success, but in recent years, Italian football has taken a serious downturn, both at club and international levels. When so committed to one style of play, a team or nation becomes incredibly easy to predict – having a plan B is vital to success, regardless of whether you play professionally or on a Sunday League basis.

🤔 𝗗𝗜𝗗 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗞𝗡𝗢𝗪: Since becoming Arsenal manager at the end of 2019, Mikel Arteta has spent more days at the top of the Premier League table than Pep Guardiola.

The main difference being, the Manchester City manager has 𝗙𝗢𝗨𝗥 league titles in that time.

🏆🏆🏆🏆… pic.twitter.com/RXBlGxZVrs

— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Footballtweet) February 27, 2026

English football has come to know this better than any other nation, which is why Premier League coaches typically have a plan A all the way through to Z, especially when they play on the continent.

Though of course there are some high-profile managers at other sides across Europe, England has some incredibly high-calibre representation: Pep Guardiola, Arne Slot, Mikel Arteta, Oliver Glasner – all of them are elite coaches in their own right, and the bad news for the rest of the sides competing in the big three UEFA competitions is that all four are still well and truly in the running for a European trophy.

All of these coaches bring irresistible presence and legendary status in their own right to the touchline, and these combined traits make them exceptionally hard to go toe-to-toe with on a regular basis, and more often than not, most managers will be completely outclassed by the depth of variation and tactical acumen they bring to the table.

So, with superior funding fuelling their push for European glory and boasting the best tacticians in world football, what exactly can be done to stop the British Isles from doing a European clean sweep?

Element of Surprise

It may sound fairly obvious, but it’s amazing how often a coach will stick to what he knows instead of trying something new and mixing it up, and as a result will miss a golden opportunity to shock their opponent.

In European games, a side can predict pretty accurately how their opposition will play. Of course, they won’t know the specifics or the ins and outs of their build-up play, but their tempo, tactical set-up and overall game plan will be easy to pinpoint in advance.

If and when a continental side is drawn against an English outfit, they need to bring some variation to their game – hoof it long, play down the wings instead of through the middle, stop playing out from the back, anything to knock their English opponents off their stride.

Though Premier League teams have been trained specifically to be able to respond to countless different game plans, the deviation from the predicted style of play will catch them off guard at least temporarily, opening the door for a surprise result.

Many may argue that the Premier League has the highest quality of player in the world and that other league can’t properly compete with them on a regular basis, but this is simply an excuse.

In France, PSG boast ridiculous star power, while in Germany, the likes of Harry Kane, Luis Diaz and Michael Olise dominate alongside Bayer Leverkusen aces Patrick Schick. Italy, despite their poor financial background, also boast some heavy star-power.

That's a Champions League draw and a half for the English teams 😳

🇪🇸 Real Madrid 🆚 Man City 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
🇫🇷 PSG 🆚 Chelsea 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
🇹🇷 Galatasaray 🆚 Liverpool 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Newcastle 🆚 Barcelona 🇪🇸
🇪🇸 Atletico Madrid 🆚 Tottenham 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
🇩🇪 Bayer Leverkusen 🆚 Arsenal 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 pic.twitter.com/O4Ild2d56h

— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) February 27, 2026

In short, no one left in the competition is incapable of competing with English sides - just look at Bodo/Glimt: despite playing at a ground with a smaller capacity than most League One sides, they have run out as winners against Man City, Atletico Madrid and twice against Inter Milan in their last four competitive fixtures.

Bigger European sides should take a page or two out of the Norwegian minnows’ book - playing without fear can go a long way, particularly when you can balance dominating the ball with being able to sit back and defend. That duality is so vital in Europe, because if you can only do one of those two well, you get eliminated 99 times out of 100.

Bodo/Glimt are the first team from outside of Europe’s big five leagues to win four consecutive matches against teams in those leagues in a European Cup/Champions League campaign. 💪 pic.twitter.com/PLHaHFVKt1

— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) February 24, 2026

English sides have uncovered the recipe for European success, and will be exceptionally hard to stop in any continental competition this season. However, all it takes is one team or one manager to just tweak things slightly, and it could uncover some previously unknown weaknesses, toppling English football off its lofty pedestal in the process.