A bad couple of days for Premier League sides in the Champions League

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Where did all go wrong?

Two draws and four defeats for Premier League sides in the Champions League

Author | Josh T

Real Madrid’s ruthless dismissal of Manchester City summed up a chastening 24 hours for the Premier League, with its claim to be the world’s strongest league placed under uncomfortable scrutiny.

City now face a daunting task to keep their Champions League hopes alive after suffering a similar, though less chaotic, fate to Tottenham, who were beaten 5-2 by Atletico Madrid in the Spanish capital a day earlier.

View from the stands at Real Madrid

Federico Valverde’s superb first-half hat-trick has left Real firmly in command of the tie, the Spanish champions carrying a 3-0 lead into the second leg of this last-16 encounter. The result capped a sobering run of outcomes for England’s leading clubs, all of whom now have work to do to preserve their involvement in Europe’s premier competition.

The ok, the bad and the ugly for other sides

Chelsea also unravelled after the interval, slipping to the same scoreline as Tottenham against the holders Paris Saint-Germain.  Liverpool were edged out 1-0 by Galatasaray but will be confident enough that they can overturn this. The atmosphere in Istanbul is never an easy one to play in. 

Arsenal and Newcastle had to settle for draws against Bayer Leverkusen and Barcelona respectively. Arteta and Arsenal will think they can still make the next round but it's a very different question for Newcastle. Getting a result away at Barcelona can be very difficult.

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