England's super six flex financial muscle in Champions League

LONDON :English clubs are taking the Champions League by storm this season, powered by mighty spending muscle, with all six clubs riding high in the 36-team group phase at the halfway stage.

This week, for the second time in four rounds of fixtures, five Premier League clubs won, something no country had managed in a single game week before this season.

Four of the six reside in the top-eight which would provide automatic qualification for the last 16, while all six sit in the top 12. Of the combined 24 games they have played, 17 have resulted in wins with only three defeats.

Arsenal are second with 12 points, behind Bayern Munich on goals scored, and are the only club yet to concede a goal.

Manchester City's 4-1 thrashing of Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday lifted them into fourth place, while Liverpool beat Real Madrid on Tuesday to sit eighth, two places below Newcastle United who beat Athletic Bilbao to record a third successive win since an opening defeat against Barcelona.

Unbeaten Tottenham Hotspur are 10th after a 4-0 hammering of FC Copenhagen, a win illuminated by a Micky van de Ven goal already being tipped as a 'goal-of-the-season' contender.

Chelsea are 12th after surprisingly being held to a 2-2 draw away to Azerbaijan outsiders Qarabag on Wednesday but both of those London clubs look in good shape for at least a playoff place even if they finish outside the top eight.

It would be no surprise to have all six English clubs in the last 16, beating the record five of 2017 when Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham all reached that stage - the first time five clubs from a single nation had advanced to the Champions League knockout phase.

Impressive as it is, some argue that the Premier