Sultan Al Ali (Dubai)
Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid qualified for the European Champions League semi-finals, after major and historic confrontations between the eight clubs. The results resulted in the exit of Manchester City and Arsenal together, making the semi-finals without any English club.
The semi-final stage will be without English clubs for the first time in the competition, after 3 consecutive seasons in which English clubs were a party 5 times out of 12, as Manchester City went out to Real Madrid on penalty kicks after a back-and-forth draw with a score of 4-4, while Arsenal will be defeated. Losing to Bayern Munich by a score of 3-2 in the two matches, and before them, Manchester United and Newcastle were eliminated from the group stage, both of them in last place.
The English will be absent for the first time since the semi-finals of the 2019-2020 season, which witnessed the participation of French and German clubs equally, through Bayern Munich, Lyon, Paris Saint-Germain and RB Leipzig. At that time, the great German club Bayern Munich won the title at the expense of Paris Saint-Germain.
In this edition, many features of that season are repeated, as the semi-finals witness the presence of Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, but the presence of Real Madrid remains a special case that makes things completely different for the historical champion of the competition.
The exit of Manchester City and Arsenal from the semi-finals, as they are the leaders and runners-up in the English Premier League, raises many questions about the reasons.
Many observers pointed to the issue of fatigue suffered by all English clubs participating in European competitions. Manchester City and Arsenal played 5 matches in just 14 days, including the two decisive matches in the European Champions League quarter-finals against Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, while Real Madrid… He played only 3 matches in the same period, and Munich played 4 matches as well.
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