'Premier League elite suffer rude awakening in Europe'

By

Chief football writer at the Santiago Bernabeu

Real Madrid's ruthless dismissal of Manchester City encapsulated 24 hours in which the Premier League's self-styled reputation as the best in the world suffered heavy damage.

City have a monumental job on their hands as they endured a similar – albeit less farcical – fate to Spurs, who lost 5-2 to Atletico Madrid in the Spanish capital 24 hours earlier.

Federico Valverde's brilliant first-half hat-trick puts Real firmly in control with a 3-0 advantage before the second leg of this last-16 tie, completing a sobering set of results for the Premier League's teams, who all have work to do to maintain their interest in Europe's elite competition.

Chelsea fell apart in the second half as they were beaten by the same scoreline as Spurs at the hands of holders Paris St-Germain, while Liverpool lost 1-0 to Galatasaray and Arsenal and Newcastle both drew with Bayer Leverkusen and Barcelona respectively.

"Looking at the deficit for City and Chelsea that they have to overcome at home, while they will have the belief they can do it, I think the margins are far too big," Match of the Day pundit Nedum Onuoha told BBC Sport.

"So while the game is still on for all the English sides, the margin of error is tiny for some of them now."

The last time all English sides involved failed to win their last-16 first legs was in 2022-23, so what went wrong?

The Premier League's power was supposedly emphasised by having six teams in the last 16 following the league stage, but this was something of a cold shower hosed on talk of its supremacy as City and Chelsea were heavily beaten, following on from defeats for Liverpool and Spurs on Tuesday.

Premier League leaders Arsenal needed Kai Havertz's last-minute penalty to scrape a draw at Bayer Leverkusen, sixth in the Bundesliga, after winning eight from eight in the league phase.

Spurs were humiliated by Atletico, Liverpool lost to Galatasaray – although Newcastle United can take credit as they were only denied victory by Barcelona's last-gasp penalty at St James' Park.

Some big performances are required in the second leg if boasts about the supposed superpower of the Premier League are not to be rendered hollow.

Five of those teams had first legs away from home. Chelsea, Manchester City and Spurs must all turn around three-goal deficits, although Arsenal and Liverpool are the best hopes of going through.

It was an unexpected downturn. Could it be that the heavy workload and intensity of the Premier League has taken the edge off performances when the Champions League comes around?

Taken on this evidence, the Premier League picture is not as rosy as some would suggest in the Champions League context.

It all looked so different from the newer league table format, which led to a clean sweep of Premier League teams, giving rise to suggestions they could dominate the latter stages.

Not so, as teams that made their way through the play-offs such as Bodo/Glimt, Atletico, Real, PSG and Galatasaray all impressed.

Former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson, who was at the Bernabeu, told BBC Radio 5 Live: "We spoke about the England teams and dominance in Europe. Look at how easily they qualified, in the Europa and Conference leagues as well. But in the Champions League, not one English team has won.

"Manchester City were in a better place than Real Madrid. They were injury-ravaged. It looked like an under-23 side with a scattering of experience for Real. But they were clinical and well-coached and hit City on the counter-attack."

Pep Guardiola made his intentions clear with a teamsheet packed with attacking talent, but after some early promise it played into the hands of a Real Madrid team that was depleted, but still streetwise enough to expose City's flaws.

Real's first goal was a prime example, City caught with a routine long clearance from keeper Thibaut Courtois that dropped over Nico O'Reilly's head for Valverde to run on to and beat Gianluigi Donnarumma.

This was not a case of wholescale tactical and technical errors of the sort that left Spurs embarrassed across this city a day earlier, but Guardiola's positive approach opened the door for Real, who burst through it with relish.

Real made Guardiola pay a heavy price for his ambition, with City now facing Champions League elimination at their hands for the third successive season.

Guardiola felt his side's performance deserved better, although he admitted City now face a mammoth task to turn the tie around.

"We may not have much chance to turn it around. Of course we are going to try," said Guardiola.

"Our game was not as bad as the result. We've played quite a good game. We have tried to do our best. We did not create enough chances. When you're able to do that, it means you have followed a good process but Real Madrid are always very dangerous."

Donnarumma's second-half penalty save from Vinicius offered some hope, Guardiola saying: "Obviously 3-0 is better than 4-0. It is a tough result. We cannot deny it. The quality they have with Valverde was great. It's a difficult result but we have six days, recover. We will try again."

All six English teams have now been given a lower predicted chance of reaching the last eight by Opta than before the last-16 first legs.

But Match of the Day pundit Stephen Warnock believes there is still hope for some teams.

"I think it is in Liverpool and Arsenal's hands, far more so than the other teams," Warnock told BBC Sport.

"Newcastle's tie is in the balance, the deficit is too big for the other teams who are behind, because you can see the teams they face scoring against them again. Chelsea, at the back, make mistakes. City look vulnerable at the back. Spurs are all over the place.

"Out of Arsenal and Liverpool's games, Liverpool's is arguably the toughest, because Arsenal at home will be formidable and will play better in the second leg, while against Galatasaray, we know Liverpool are poor at the back.

"Anfield will be incredible again, in terms of atmosphere, but I still think Arne Slot's side are susceptible and vulnerable when teams attack them."

City have the quality to believe they can turn this tie around, although Real will be overwhelming favourites, but Spurs and Chelsea look no-hopers.

There is no guarantee interim manager Igor Tudor will still be in charge for Spurs' return leg.

Spurs may even regard it as an inconvenience, such is their desperate Premier League plight one point above the relegation zone.

And even the scale of their loss was overshadowed by Tudor's treatment of young goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky, who was substituted after only 17 minutes following two errors which led to goals.

The Premier League has seen reputation damage inflicted in the last two days – now the work begins to repair in the second legs of these ties.