Messi: What do you see down there?
Ronaldo: Haha, just a couple of fallen English teams!
Malaga and Galatasaray may not look like quarter-finalists of Europe's elite competition. But that is not the main point. What is surprising is that none of the eight teams are English. This is in stark contrast to 2011 when Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur occupied three spots at the same stage of the competition.
We can even go back a little more to the 07-08 and 08-09 seasons when three Premier League clubs were in the semi-finals. The English Premier League had at least one representative in all but one final (2010 saw Inter Milan defeating Bayern Munich) since 2005.
In recent years, with the decline of Liverpool and the emergence of Tottenham and the mega-rich Manchester City, the English contingent has been given a new look. The traditional Big Four has become history while Spain's Big Two still continue to make an impact every year.
The ironic thing about the absence of English clubs in this season's Champions League is that the final will be held at the Wembley Stadium in London.
Well, to be fair, the two surviving Premier League sides in the last 16, Arsenal and Man United, were simply unlucky. Despite being level on aggregate, Arsenal crashed out of the Champions League due to the away goals rule. They came back from a 1-3 defeat to beat Bayern Munich 2-0 in the second leg.
The same can be said of Manchester United, currently having a massive 15-point lead in the title race, where they got trumped by old boy Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid. Plus, a controversial red card for their midfielder Nani in the second leg allowed Real to fire two quick successive goals which proved to be the crucial.
Manchester City played really badly during the group stages. They failed to win a single match then and finished bottom of Group D with only three pathetic points, courtesy of three pathetic stalemates at their own stadium.
The fourth and last representative, Chelsea were unfortunate not to advance to the knockout round. They were tied at 10 points with Shakhtar Donetsk but placed at third because the Ukrainian side enjoyed a better head-to-head record.
Are English teams really losing their shine in the continent's most prestigious club competition? Probably not. If haters argue that three English semi-finalists in 2008 and 2009 was a coincidence, then 2013 is another coincidence whereby all English teams got eliminated before the last eight.
England will bounce back next year with Manchester United leading the charge. And no, we need no Manchester City. A Tottenham is fine but good old Liverpool is what we are lacking. Do note that a certain Liverpool bias may have inflicted the above comment.
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