The Premier League, the league with the highest UEFA coefficient, leading the nearest league by some margins and it is only a matter of time before the English FA have words with UEFA on the number of entrants from the league into the European grandest club competition.
Premier League pressure has played its role in UEFA changing the Champions League format.
The UEFA is currently under pressure from the Super League and for now will be looking to gain the backing of the powerful leagues in order to fend off the threat posed by the proposal of the said ‘breakaway league.’
Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus spare head the quest to bring the Super League into existence and the Premier League, being the league with the prospective more participating teams than other leagues will have a massive say as to if the creation will be successful.
The Premier League, as well as the likes of the Spanish La Liga, German Bundesliga and the Italian Serie A have places for four teams in the competition respectively, but the competition in the English top-flight has seen the big names starting to miss out in the competition.
Liverpool for instance, despite being the most successful English team in the competition missed out on qualification for almost a a decade before eventually rebuilding into more competitive side and retaining their spot in the competition thanks to the arrival of manager, Jürgen Klopp and his recruits.
For Arsenal, historically a top three team the topflight having won the league on 13 occasions, only behind Manchester United and Liverpool. The Gunners have missed out on Champions League place since last qualifying in the 2015-16 season, when they finished second in the league behind Leicester City.
Despite parading some big names then in the likes of Mesut Özil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the later who never got the avenue to represent Arsenal in the Champions League before leaving January this year, having arrived at the club from Borussia Dortmund since January 2018.
Manchester United, considered by many as the most successful team English team has also had the time of finishing out of the top four and not making Champions League qualification.
It could be about to get worse next season as the easiest route for the Ralf Rangnick side qualifying for the competition is the hardest way, i.e winning the competition this season as it continues to look impossible for them to finish in the top four this season in the league.
Many of the Premier League teams have budget of teams worth playing in tbe Champions League and most of this teams are forced to just play the domestic competitions while they spend so much on player wages and signature.
In the French league for instance, apart from PSG Paris Saint-Germain, who parade superstars like Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, Neymar Junior and others, it will be rare to see one of the other teams compete with any of the Premier League clubs on budget.
While these teams get to occupy the remaining two slots after PSG, the Premier League teams will have to compete for four slots, whereas most of the bottom ten teams in England could make the top three in France, and even match or supercede their budget.
The emergence of teams like Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City, who have also featured in the competition more than a couple of times recently, with Spurs even reaching the final in 2018, it is becoming increasingly impossible for the Premier League clubs to make do with just four slots in the competition.
Moreso, the Newcastle United takeover means The Magpies will be hoping for slot in the champions league in the coming years while West Ham United last season showed they are ready to battle for place too and their impressive run so far in the Europa League is testament to the fact that they can compete on the grandest stage.
Newcastle United are starting to come good after spending on new signings in January. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Aston Villa are also another team on the rise and how will four slots be allotted to a league where you have Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and City, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur as the main before you move to the upcoming teams looking to stake their claim on the slots.
Even at this stage, UEFA will be aware that the Premise League clubs might be tempted to accept their proposal of the Super League in other to be afforded the chance to compete with the best clubs and make fame for their clubs and their fans something to cheer.
The Premier League teams are recently starting to rejuvenate their European dominance and they have won three of the last two edition, even represented by four of the six teams in the three finals. This makes it obvious that the league will be indeed deserving of any edge given to it by the UEFA.
The proposed new Champions League format is sure to allot more slots to the Premier League compared to others, after all they are considered the best league as per UEFA coefficient and to ease the pressure that may ensue in the future, UEFA will only be fair to give more slots to the English teams than other leagues.
Author: Kehinde Hassan Afolabi
