Europe in awe as the Big Four line up

England's finest are full of confidence on the eve of the Champions League draw
David Hytner
Thursday March 13, 2008 The Guardian

There will be an unprecedented show of English strength tomorrow when the Champions League draw takes place at Uefa's headquarters at Nyon in Switzerland. The Premier League's Big Four will be all present and correct - the first time any nation has so dominated the business end of the competition - and it speaks volumes that with no "country protection", to borrow from the Uefa lexicon, the psychological sparring already centres on the prospect of these English clubs being thrown together.
Sir Alex Ferguson was the first to announce that Manchester United were "geared to playing an English team", and Rafael Benítez said Liverpool would be "more than happy to face an English side in the final". The noises from Arsenal and Chelsea have been similarly bullish, and it is easy to forget that the European powerhouses of Barcelona and Roma will also be in the open draw, together with the less fancied Schalke and Fenerbahce.
"The Premier League is the strongest in Europe," said Ferguson. "For a spell, it was the Spanish league - I remember seven or eight years ago, they had three teams in the semi-finals. Spanish football was really strong but I think the English game has now reached that level.
"We now have a 40% chance of being drawn against an English team, which is a measure of the quality of this division. It doesn't matter who we get in the quarter-finals. Knowing who you'll get in the semi-finals as well is an incentive, but we'll take what we get."
It was fitting that San Siro should witness the establishment of a new European order. In the space of eight days, one of the citadels of world football saw Milan, the Champions League holders, deposed by the youthful cut-and-thrust of Arsenal and Internazionale, the Serie A leaders, eased aside by the discipline and cunning of Liverpool.
"Our victory shows the power and the strength of the Premier League," said Benítez. "We have fine clubs who are among the best in Europe, a league that is the same, and players of quality who are some of the best in Europe."
There has been the feeling, though, that English pre-eminence has been in the pipeline for some time. "I honestly think you could see it coming," said Steven Gerrard, Liverpool's captain. "If you look at how the English teams have done in the last four or five years, then it tells you they have had the quality. And it will continue. I think one of us will go all the way this year, we are a real force in Europe now. There can be no argument about that."
Certainly not in Milan, among other places. "You can say that the Premier League is not only the best for this season but for what its teams have done over the last few years in [Liverpool and Arsenal] reaching the final," said the Milan midfielder Kaka. "We can say they are the best league." The Milan defender Alessandro Nesta agreed. "At the moment, only the top three clubs in Italy can compete in financial terms with teams from the Premier League. They have the best players and, as a consequence, the best league."
Due largely to a series of mega-money TV deals, the elite clubs have prospered, with United, Chelsea and Arsenal occupying three of the top five places in the Football Money League, compiled by the business advisory firm Deloitte.
In Spain, Unai Emery, Almería's coach, pointed out: "A lot of it is down to the size of these deals and the money that is bringing in. In any case, these things are cyclical - one year it could be England, the next it's Spain, then Italy and so on." Espanyol's coach, Ernesto Valverde, added: "The English league is unlike any other and what they are achieving right now is miles ahead."
The wave of highly skilled imports has helped to raise the levels of technique and the arrival of forward-thinking continental coaches has refined tactical approaches. Yet the traditional virtues of strength, tempo and a never-say-die commitment - as illustrated by the Champions League final triumphs of United and Liverpool - have not been lost. Indeed, the old and the new make for an irresistible blend.
"There are some incredible players in the Premier League right now, there is such quality, but there is also the spirit of English sides and that makes them hard to play against," said Patrick Vieira, Internazionale's former Arsenal midfielder. "It is a remarkable achievement to get four teams into the last eight of the Champions League."