English struggle to find shelter from the storm
During the period that Bayer Leverkusen rested over Christmas and the New Year, Arsenal played five times. Declan Rice contested three full 90 minutes, all intense encounters against Brighton, Bournemouth and Liverpool. He certainly didn’t look at his best against Leverkusen, and was almost irritable at times. Fatigue? While Real Madrid enjoyed their winter break, Manchester City endured tough games at Nottingham Forest and Sunderland. Real’s wonderful Federico Valverde had a 21-day break while Bernardo Silva was engaged in four games for City. Fatigue? And so it goes on. The French League even moved PS-G’s game with Monaco to the Friday to give the European champions longer to prepare for last night’s visit of Chelsea.
The reasons behind Premier League travails in the Champions League round of 16 first legs are far more nuanced than simply a question of fatigue. Issues persist around coaching and playing styles. Premier League players cannot get away with the same level of grappling at corners in Europe with oversight from stronger officials. Players cannot make the mistakes that occasionally go unpunished n the Premier League.
Pep Guardiola had one of his bizarre European moments, getting the balance of the side wrong against Real. Spurs caretaker coach, Igor Tudor, is patently not good enough. Chelsea’s young head coach, Liam Rosenior, was up against a tactical master in Luis Enrique. None of the four keepers at Spurs and Chelsea are good enough. The lament goes on.
Some perspective is required. It needs recording that Liverpool and Arsenal are likely to progress. Newcastle United performed well against Barcelona and were thwarted only by a late equaliser. English clubs have also won three of the last seven Champions Leagues: Liverpool in 2019, Chelsea in 2021, and City in 2023. England have also reached two European Championship finals in that period. How big is the fatigue question?