In a rare occurrence, England finds itself without any teams in the semi-finals of the Champions League or Europa League for only the third time in the 21st century.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2024/04/18/3951601-80245728-2560-1440.jpg "There are no more Premier League representatives in the semi-finals of the Champions League and Europa League 1")
The recent quarter-final matches saw Manchester City and Arsenal bowing out of the Champions League against Real Madrid and Bayern Munich respectively.
Similarly, Liverpool and West Ham were unable to overcome their first-leg deficits against Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen, resulting in their elimination from the Europa League.
Aston Villa remains the sole English representative in European competitions, having secured a spot in the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League by defeating Lille in a penalty shootout. This tournament, which is in its third season, operates as the third-tier competition.
In 1999, the Cup Winners’ Cup was abolished and the Uefa Cup, now known as the Europa League, was elevated from being the third-tier to the second-tier European trophy.
Since then, England has only experienced this situation three times, where no teams from the country have reached the last four of either the Champions League or the Europa League. This occurred in the seasons of 2002-03, 2014-15, and now.
Furthermore, this will only be the fourth occasion in the past 20 seasons that the Premier League will not have a finalist in either competition.
Five years ago, both finals consisted of English teams, with Liverpool triumphing over Tottenham in the Champions League final, and Chelsea emerging victorious against Arsenal in the Europa League.
In the last five seasons, three European champions have hailed from England. Chelsea defeated Manchester City in 2021, and City overcame Inter Milan in the previous season.
The absence of semi-finalists in the top two trophies is surprising, considering that England’s four quarter-final representatives matched their average performance over the past six seasons.
The Champions League semi-finals will feature Paris St-Germain against Borussia Dortmund, and Bayern Munich against Real Madrid. In the Europa League, the matchups are Atalanta versus Marseille, and Roma versus Bayer Leverkusen.
The location of the finals adds an extra layer of frustration for English clubs and their fans, as the Champions League final will take place at Wembley, while Dublin’s Aviva Stadium will host the Europa League showpiece.