Premier League star Joe Cole said: "If we can't see at least two Premier League teams in the Champions League semi-finals, I will be shocked. I think we may have 3 or even 4!" His prediction is bold. He is looking forward to the Champions League starting this week and looking forward to the Premier League's domination this season, even an era. Joe Cole makes sense. After all, last season's Champions League final was a Premier League civil war, and the four Premier League teams, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool and the defending champion Chelsea, are stronger this year than last year.
During the transfer period this season, Premier League clubs have spent approximately £1.1 billion on new players. During the past three transfer windows, they accounted for 45% of all transfer expenditures in the top 5 European leagues. When La Liga was at a low ebb and both Bundesliga and Serie A were struggling to retain their superstars, Manchester City let Glarish Became the most expensive England player of all time.
Similarly, Chelsea also broke their own transfer record, bringing Lukaku back from Inter Milan to Stamford Bridge . At the same time, Manchester United signed the potentially unlimited Sancho and, of course, the sensational Cristiano Ronaldo . Don’t underestimate Liverpool. Although buying Konat from Leipzig is very important, the comeback of , van Dijk and others is more important for , Klopp, and he can still call up most of the players who won the championship in 2019. , Then who will stop the Premier League top 4?
Of course, Paris is the favorite to win, they already have Donnarumma, Ashraf, Ramos, Wiener Erdum and Messi. They did not win the Ligue 1 championship last season, but faced offenses from Messi, Neymar and Mbappé ,The opponent may be powerless. After reaching the Champions League semi-finals last season and the Champions League final the year before, Greater Paris should be expected to enter the semi-finals again. Their clash with Manchester City in the group stage allows us to see how strong they are this time.
Bayern? Can the 2020 Champions League champion regain the title? With Lewandez, everything is possible. It is his absence that made them lose to Paris last season and make them pay in the quarter-finals At a heavy price, the Bundesliga champions are not without problems. They are very dependent on Lewand. Even though they signed Upamecano, there are still many problems defensively.
What about the challenge of La Liga? After all, not long ago, Real Madrid still monopolized the Champions League. Despite the problems, they reached the semi-finals last season. Ancelotti is a 5-time champion as a player and coach, but does he really have a team that can do it for the 6th time? Ramos and Varane have already left. They are against Mbappe The transfer failed, Benzema is still the key, but Azar and Bell can turn the tide?
Barcelona is also unlikely. They abandoned Messi and let Griez Man returned to Atletico, no matter how good Pedri and Anzu-Fati are, it is not enough. Atletico Madrid is a more interesting choice, considering their tactical style and the signing of Gerry. The fact of Zman, they are La Liga champions, tenacious, stable, first-class defense, few teams are willing to face them. However, Simeone 's team was disappointing when they lost to Leipzig in the quarter-finals of 2020, and the last 16 match against Chelsea was also mediocre.
If there are competitors in Serie A,That would be a surprise. Inter Milan ended their 11-year wait for the league title in May, but they lost Conte , star striker Lukaku and outstanding Ashraf, while Juventus remained stagnant. Since 2017, they have never reached the quarter-finals. After Cristiano Ronaldo left, they were a team that lacked the ability to star. Their poor start to the new season proved this.
This is a 1 to 5 or 1 to 6 match. Paris is playing against the Premier League. Bayern watched helplessly, while the others were full of hope. Since the mid to late 2000s, Premier League football has never been stronger. In the 8 seasons from 2004 to 2012, they reached the finals in 7 seasons. Will history repeat itself? Messi and Paris will have some opinions on this, but the Premier League semi-finals will be brave.
