Champions League: 10 wins in 11 meetings – How the English Premier League teams dominate their rivals in the Spanish League

Part of the change in trend is down to the spending power of the Premier League.

Television rights generated huge broadcast revenues for English parties, with income from this source dwarfed by that of other countries.

Last summer, Premier League clubs spent more than £3 billion, a record for a single transfer window and more than the total spending of clubs in the Bundesliga, La Liga, Ligue 1 and Serie A combined.

Arsenal have spent £250m – the most of any Premier League club – to bolster the depth of their squad, with the Gunners currently top of England’s top flight and sitting at the top of the Champions League table alongside Bayern Munich, with the two teams meeting in a tense encounter on Wednesday night.

However, Real Madrid beat Borussia Dortmund in the final 18 months ago to secure a record-extending 15th title, while Spanish teams have won the European Cup 20 times overall – five times more than English teams.

And winning league stage matches does not guarantee success – just ask Liverpool, who finished top of the table in 2024-25 before losing in the round of 16 to eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain.

“Obviously anything can happen in the knockout stages, but in terms of money, talent, training, facilities and even talent in the offices, England are the Premier League in Europe,” Balage added.

He added: “I’m not saying this, perhaps because of jealousy of Spanish football in general. It’s just a reflection of what’s happening.”