The manager of Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp, has admitted that the congested fixtures in England’s elite club football affected the performance of Premier League clubs in European competitions.
The 2023-2024 season saw Premier League clubs struggle in European club competitions. Things are so bad that no club in the league made it to the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Recall that Real Madrid from Spanish La Liga knocked out Manchester City in the quarter-finals, and Bayern Munich from German Bundesliga knocked out Arsenal in the same stage of the campaign.
The same fate befell English clubs in the UEFA Europa League as no club from the league made it beyond the quarter-finals including star-studded Liverpool who were stunned out of the competition by Atalanta from Italian Serie A.
Only in the Europa Conference League that the Premier League currently have a representative. Aston Villa are still flying England’s flag in the semi-final stage of the competition.
However, they are likely to be knocked out of the competition by Greek club, Olympiacos who recorded an unprecedented 2-4 away win over the English side.
While most of the clubs who faced Premier League clubs in European competitions this season didn’t play weekend games before playing in Europe in midweek, the clubs from England often have two to three days to prepare for their European engagements.
The fact that Premier League clubs didn’t perform well in Europe this season, have dropped the league to third in UEFA Coefficient Rankings behind Bundesliga and Serie A. Also, some critics claimed EPL clubs’ performance in Europe proved that the Premier League is overhyped.
However, Klopp said, “If no English team is in a European final, have we underperformed? The Premier League is best in the world, not overrated, the players [overworked]. Someone needs to help the people, cut off one game!”