Only Barcelona are sure of the being in the last 16, with Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid in the playoff round. Whereas Spanish clubs used to dominate in Europe - Real Madrid won the competition twice in the past four seasons - this time they lost all but one of 10 meetings against Premier League teams in the group stage. Six Premier League sides sit inside the top 10 of the Deloitte Football Money League, while 50% of the top 30 come from the English top flight. Balague believes only Paris St-Germain and Bayern Munich can match English clubs in all the four areas of "organised attack, structured defence, attacking transition and defensive transition". English clubs are now fully attuned to the European style, Balague says.

Source: BBC January 29, 2026 18:43 UTC