With the 2-2 draw between Arsenal and Standard Liege, all seven Premier League teams in the Champions League and Europa League this season have reached the knockout stages. This is the first time in the history of the Premier League that teams who have won the qualification to compete in Europe have collectively completed their qualification. The last time that seven teams were able to qualify in Europe in the Premier League can be traced back to the great Premier League era in the 2008-09 season. (Note: In the 2008-09 season, a total of 9 English Premier League teams qualified for the European Championship)
After 10 years of ups and downs, the era of the Great Premier League came back to the world last season. Last season, not only did BIG6 all qualify from the group matches (Burnley stopped qualifying), but also Liverpool, Spurs, Chelsea and Arsenal took four seats in the European final, creating a great era of the Premier League; This season, can the Premier League continue such a terrifying dominance in Europe?
A total of seven Premier League teams have participated in the European Championships this season. Four teams play in the Champions League: Premier League champions Manchester City, Champions League champions Liverpool, Champions League champions Chelsea and Premier League fourth Tottenham; Three teams play in the Europa League: Arsenal, No. 5 in the Premier League, Manchester United, No. 6 in the Premier League and Wolves, No. 7 in the Premier League. Among them, Wolves entered the competition through the Europa League qualification and play offs, and the other six teams directly participated in the group stage.
After six rounds of the group game, all the four teams in the Champions League successfully reached the last 16. Manchester City and Liverpool won the first place in the group, while Spurs and Chelsea won the second place in the group. In the Europa League, Manchester United were confirmed to be in the top 32 two rounds ahead of schedule, Wolves went out of the group one round ahead of schedule, and Arsenal were the most dangerous. When they were 0-2 down, they equalled Standard Liege and finally passed the test. As a result, all the seven teams of the Premier League have entered the European knockout stages. In addition, Celtic and Rangers of the Soviet Super League also completed the task of qualifying in the Europa League group, and all 9 British teams stood out from the European group matches.
Last season, the six teams of the Premier League qualified in the group, but Burnley failed in the Europa League play off. In the 2017-18 season, there were also six teams that qualified, five of which were in the Champions League: Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham all won the first place in the group, Chelsea second, Arsenal also successfully qualified in the Europa League, and only Everton ranked third in the group. In the 2016-17 season, the situation in the Premier League was not good: Spurs were the third out of the Champions League group, West Ham United fell in the Europa League play off, and Southampton were the third out of the group.
Last season, the top six of the Premier League not only joined hands to reach the European knockout rounds, but also joined hands to reach the top eight. In the end, Liverpool and Tottenham will meet in the Champions League final, Chelsea and Arsenal will meet in the Europa League final and win four final seats, turning the two European finals into a civil war in the Premier League and creating a prosperous era of the Premier League.
This season, the "group army" of the Premier League has added another strong team (Wolves), naturally hoping to continue the glory of last season. Is there a chance? yes. In terms of the Champions League, the defending champion Liverpool has become a king, and the performance of the champions is still outstanding; Manchester City, which has won two consecutive titles in the Premier League, is one European champion away. Guardiola will go all out; Spurs replaced the more experienced Mourinho, aiming at the championship trophy (last time, the team led by the second in the group, and finally won the championship); Chelsea's winter window ban was lifted, and after the introduction of strong reinforcements, their strength will rise to a higher level (the Blues were in the same group with Valencia twice before, both reaching the final).
In terms of the Europa League, Manchester United is the champion of the 2016-17 season, and Arsenal was the runner up of last season; Wolves have less strength and experience, but as the biggest dark horse in the Premier League last season and the sixth in the Premier League this season, they can not be underestimated, and they also hope to surprise fans. Therefore, if the second season of the "Premier League Prosperity" is staged, don't be surprised.
（Alex）
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