Premier League clubs have cemented their dominance in the Champions League over the last five years. According to the numbers presented by SafeBettingSites.com, Premier League clubs have claimed 60% (6 out of 10) final spots in the previous five tournament editions. None of the other leagues could manage more than one during the same period.
PL clubs also won 13/40 spots in the last 8
The focus of the footballing world is once again on the Champions League as the last-16 games kick off this week. Standing champions Manchester City are once again favourites to lift the trophy.
A look at the distribution of teams in the knockout stages of the last five tournaments further cement City’s credentials. Premier League clubs have dominated the knockout stages of the tournament of late. In the last editions, PL clubs have won 19 spots (23.75%) in the last-16 stage. La Liga and Bundesliga follow the English league with 15 appearances each. Serie A is further behind with 13 spots in the last-16 stage. Ligue 1 clubs could just manage eight spots in the last five last-16 knockout rounds of the tournament. They were closely followed by Portuguese Primeira Liga with six spots.
Premier League clubs managed even greater domination in the quarterfinal stage. In 13 of the 19 instances, PL teams from the last 16 managed to qualify for the next round. Thus, the share of PL teams increased to 32.5% (13 out of 40) at the last-8 stage. Only 8 out of 15 La Liga teams advanced to the quarterfinals during the past five editions of the Champions League. Bundesliga and Serie A closely followed with six and five appearances in the last-8, respectively.
Surprisingly, Portuguese Primeira Liga managed more Champions League quarterfinal appearances with four instances than Ligue 1 with three. However, in all three cases, Ligue 1 sides in the last 8 managed to make it to the semi-finals, but none of the Primeira Liga sides could do the same in their four chances.
Premier League clubs also managed the most semi-final appearances with seven. La Liga came closest to them with five appearances. Bundesliga and Serie A clubs managed two spots each.
The Premier League’s domination in the Champions League was most evident from the distribution of teams in the final of the tournament. PL clubs grabbed six of the available ten spots in the last five finals. Meanwhile, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, and Ligue 1 could manage one spot each.
