Strength and power of Manchester City can reinforce Premier League dominance

T he Premier League is the dominant force in the Champions League: Saturday’s final will be the fifth in six years to feature at least one English team. Football generally works in cycles, though, and the rest of the continent will be plotting to take over again.

In the five finals before 2018, there was not an English side in sight and Spain was lauding it over its rivals. Real Madrid won four out of five from 2013 in their dominant cycle, but they have been overtaken. Manchester City enter their second Champions League final in three years against Internazionale, who are the first Italian team since 2017 to reach this stage of a competition Serie A has dominated in the past. In the 10 seasons starting in 1988-89 an Italian club reached nine finals and won four.

There are numerous reasons why the English game is enjoying a glorious spell. It is no coincidence the biggest clubs can attract the best managers. Pep Guardiola, Jürgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel have taken English teams into the Champions League with knowledge gained elsewhere of how to beat the best in Europe. They arrived with experience of different leagues. Managers learn from one another, too. Mikel Arteta and Erik ten Hag worked with Guardiola at City and Bayern Munich respectively and they are pushing one another to be at their best.

Guardiola keeps evolving, changing things tactically each season to maintain City’s challenge for trophies. Klopp brought his pressing style to Liverpool and has taken them to three Champions League finals. Those styles and philosophies have added to the English culture of technical play and fandom, aided by players wanting to be with those managers.

Guardiola knows what worked for him in the past will not necessarily work