Mar 19, 2009, 13:59 GMT
London - Can anybody stop the Premier League clubs? Half the sides in Friday's quarter-final draw are from England and the suggestion is that they are moving into a period of unprecedented domination.
There have always been times when one team or country has held sway - Real Madrid won the first five titles, while both Ajax and Bayern Munich won three in a row; English teams won the title six times in a row from 1977 to 1982.
But what is happening now is different, because of the way the rules changed to allow more than one side from each nation to take part.
This is the 10th season since the rule was changed to allow in three teams from the same nation - it later became four for the elite.
Spain enjoyed an early period of supremacy, producing two winners and eight semi-finalists in a five-year period, but that is nothing as to the last four seasons.
From Liverpool's victory over AC Milan in Istanbul in 2005, there have been two English winners, three English runners-up, and a staggering nine semi-finalists.
Not since Liverpool lost to Milan in the 2007 final has an English team been eliminated by non-English opposition.
The reason is not hard to ascertain: money.
The latest Deloitte report into football finance shows the 'Big Four' English clubs - Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal - all in the top seven in the world in terms of revenue generated (along with Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich).
Similarly, the four biggest transfer fees paid in the past five seasons have been paid by English clubs.
But it is not just about revenue. It helps also that each of the Big Four have played in the Champions League in each of the past five seasons.
They have stability: they can budget for qualification; they can offer potential signings a near-guarantee of Champions League football, and their players have regular experience of playing at the highest level.
Although Aston Villa and Everton have made doughty efforts this season, Big Four qualification for the Champions League looks set to continue.
The average points per game differential last season between fourth (Liverpool) and fourth-bottom (Fulham) in the Premier League last season was 1.05 - the highest such figure ever recorded in one of Europe's top four leagues.
In eight of the past 10 seasons, that figure, which can be viewed as a rough measure of the competitiveness of a league, has been higher in England than in Spain, Italy or Germany.
And it is getting bigger: the Premier League is becoming ever more skewed in favour of the Big Four; their hegemony is increasing, and that is likely to mean ever more dominance in the Champions League.
Top of the tree are Manchester United, who seem at last to have to sort of squad Sir Alex Ferguson has been threatening to build for the past decade.
There is experience, there is youth, and there are options in every position. In the last round they beat Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan - leaders in Italy - with some comfort, dominating possession to an almost embarrassing degree in the first half of the first leg.
Their main obstacle to Champions League success could be the fact that they are contemplating a quintuple.
Having already won the Club World Cup and the Carling Cup, they are four points clear in the Premier League with a game in hand, and through to the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
Ferguson, though, has been keen to play down talk of a clean sweep.
'The thing about cup football is you need to be the best but you also need a lot of luck and I think it's asking too much for all the games to go your way,' Ferguson told the New Statesman.
'The one thing I will say is, this squad is the best I have ever had. Every game we play, I feel confident.
'At the moment, every attack fears our defence and every defence fears our midfield and attack. That gives you confidence but it is too tough a call.'
Chelsea have been rejuvenated under Guus Hiddink, while Liverpool were immensely impressive in disposing of Real Madrid 5-0 on aggregate - even before Saturday's 4-1 victory over United.
Only Arsenal of the Premier League teams are not in top form, and even they may enjoy a new lease of life with Eduardo and Theo Walcott back after injury and Cesc Fabregas set to return.
Although Bayern Munich put 12 past Sporting Lisbon over two matches in the last round, domestic form indicates their frailties, leaving Barcelona as the biggest threat to the Premier League teams.
Even they, though, look suspect at the back.
As Ferguson says, Cup is unpredictable, but it is hard to see an end to English hegemony.
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