The Premier League and the risk of repeating the Champions League tragedy of the 2017/18 season

English football is facing the risk of reliving a forgettable scenario that occurred in the Champions League during the 2017/18 season, when Premier League representatives started promisingly but quickly fell apart in the knockout rounds.

In the 2017/18 season, the Premier League set a historic milestone by becoming the first league to have five representatives all reach the round of 16 Champions League. At that time, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham, and Chelsea all advanced past the group stage.

However, the initial excitement quickly gave way to disappointment. Manchester United, Chelsea, and Tottenham were all eliminated immediately after the round of 16. Manchester City, despite overcoming Basel, also stopped early in the quarter-finals after losing to Liverpool. Ultimately, The Kop was the English team that went furthest, but also suffered a 1-3 defeat against Real Madrid in the final.

Nearly a decade later, English football has set another new milestone. The 2025/26 Champions League season recorded up to six Premier League representatives reaching the knockout stage, an unprecedented record in the tournament's history. However, developments following the first leg of the round of 16 matches are causing fans to worry that history might repeat itself.

It is noteworthy that none of the Premier League representatives secured a victory in the first leg. Even some major teams suffered very heavy defeats.

Tottenham lost 2-5 to Atletico Madrid, while Chelsea also suffered a similar defeat against Paris Saint-Germain. Manchester City found themselves in a situation with almost no chance of progressing after a 0-3 loss to Real Madrid.

In the remaining matches, Liverpool surprisingly lost 0-1 to Galatasaray away. Arsenal drew 1-1 with Bayer Leverkusen, and Newcastle also had a similar result when sharing points with Barcelona.

These results make the prospects of English football in the Champions League quite fragile. Without spectacular comeback performances in the second legs, the Premier League could easily lose at least half of its representatives right after the round of 16.

Given the context where many teams are experiencing unstable form, especially the heavy defeats of Tottenham, Chelsea, and Man City, the risk of English representatives falling apart en masse in this season's Champions League is entirely possible.

If that scenario becomes reality, the 2025/26 Champions League will serve as a reminder that a large number of representatives has never guaranteed success for English football in Europe's most prestigious competition.