UEFA Champions League & Europa League Draw Reaction
Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United & Arsenal – could English sides win both European competitions in the 2020/21 season?
With the draws for the Champions League and Europa on Friday morning, we take a look at how the remaining England sides could dominate European football.
The European Super Cup sees the winner of the Champions League go up against the Europa League winners – could they both be English teams?
Champions League
Manchester City
have made a strong start to European campaign, topping their group before a comfortable last-16 4-0 aggregate win against Borussia Monchengladbach. Now, they are set to face fellow German side Borussia Dortmund (Haaland & Co.) in the quarter-final stage, which will definitely test their defence.
Also in the running for a Champions League triumph is
Chelsea
– the underdogs who took advantage of two underwhelming performances by Atletico Madrid in the last-16. Thomas Tuchel’s men beat the La Liga leaders 2-0 on aggregate, and will definitely take some momentum and confidence in their tie against FC Porto.
Despite a pretty disappointing domestic campaign,
Liverpool
are still holding their own in Europe’s elite tournament. With a convincing 4-0 aggregate win over RB Leipzig – a team second in the Bundesliga – they will now have to overcome Spanish giants Real Madrid in the quarter-finals.
Road to the Final
In the ideal situation for all the English sides, all three will progress to the semi-finals, and we’ll see two of the three face each other for a chance to win the Champions League.
Chelsea and Liverpool are on the same side of the bracket, so if they both win their quarter-final ties, we’ll see semi-final games at both Anfield and Stamford Bridge. However, it also means that only one of the two will have a chance at winning the tournament, leaving the other one to crash out at the last-four.
Meanwhile, City will reach the semi-final if they can overcome a young, attacking Dortmund side over the two legs. If successful, the Manchester side will be met by defending champions Bayern Munich, or last year’s other finalists, PSG – ouch. Got to beat the best to be the best, right?
If City can make it through that, there’s no doubt that they will definitely fancy their chances in their first European Cup final appearance since 1970. Yes, it’s been
that
long.
Europa League
Meanwhile, there are two English sides left in the Europa League – both who are strong favourites to win the competition, according to the bookies.
Manchester United
put on an impressive away performance to knock fellow tournament favourites AC Milan out at the last-16 stage of the Europa League. With a goal courtesy of Paul Pogba, who scored within three minutes of coming on, United were able to hold on to the victory, and left the San Siro with a well-earned progression. Now with a quarter-final matchup against CF Granada, United are favourites in their tie.
Arsenal
held out in their last-16 match against Olympiakos, despite losing their second, away leg 1-0. But, it wasn’t enough from the Greek side, and meant the Gunners could move on to the last-8 of the competition. Now, they have been drawn against Slavia Prague – a team who have built up ‘UK killer’ status over the past two months – knocking out both Leicester City and Rangers in the Europa League.
Road to the Final
Fortunately for both English sides, if they both progress, they won’t see each other until the final, which is a possibility. Good news for all the English neutrals.
However, United must overcome Dutch giants Ajax, or Italy’s AS Roma, in the semi-finals before they can start to think about facing Arsenal. Ajax are also a favourite to win the tournament, which isn’t a shock to anyone. United will be up against it, but Ajax have got to be beaten at some point.
Arsenal met an English opponent only two years ago, 2019 against Chelsea, where the Gunners lost 4-1 to their London rivals. This season, if they want to try again (but this time win instead of being thrashed), they must beat either Dinamo Zagreb or Villarreal.
Our Predictions
In our opinion, the Champions League is going to be rather difficult for Man City, who have to face either of the two latest finalists, and that’s even if they get past Dortmund. Liverpool will want revenge for their 2018 final loss to Real Madrid, but will be up against it. Porto have done well to get this far, but Chelsea may consider themselves favourites in that one.
Winners:
Bayern Munich – can you look past them? We can’t.
In contrast, both United and Arsenal do have a good opportunity to get to the final of the Europa League. Ajax could throw a spanner in the works for United, but it will make for an exciting semi-final. Arsenal, on their day, can beat any of the three teams they play, so could see them feature in the final.
Winners:
Manchester United – why not?
Fancy a punt on the English European Double? Check out the best available odds at
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today!
