England finds itself without any teams in the semi-finals of the Champions League or Europa League for just the third time in the 21st century.
For the first time in nine years, there won’t be a team from England in the semi-finals of either the UEFA Champions League or the UEFA Europa League.
Manchester City and Arsenal were both eliminated from the Champions League quarter-finals by Real Madrid and Bayern Munich respectively.
Meanwhile, Liverpool and West Ham were defeated in their Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday, unable to overcome first-leg deficits against Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen.
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Aston Villa remains the sole English representative in Europe, advancing to the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League after defeating Lille on penalties.
The Cup Winners’ Cup, in 1999 was discontinued, and the UEFA Cup, now known as the Europa League, was elevated from the third-tier to the second-tier European trophy.
This marks only the third occasion since then that England has had no teams in the last four of either the Europa League or the Champions League, the others being in 2002-03 and 2014-15.
Furthermore, it will be just the fourth time in the past two decades that the Premier League will not have a finalist in either competition.
Five years ago, both finals featured all-English matchups, with Liverpool triumphing over Tottenham in the Champions League final and Chelsea defeating Arsenal to claim the Europa League title.
Notably, three of the past five European champions have been English clubs, with Chelsea prevailing over Manchester City in 2021 and City defeating Inter Milan last season.
The absence of semi-finalists in the top two trophies comes as a surprise, considering that England’s four quarter-final representatives matched their average over the past six seasons.
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In the Champions League semi-finals, Paris St-Germain will face Borussia Dortmund, while Bayern Munich will take on Real Madrid. Meanwhile, the Europa League will see Atalanta clash with Marseille and Roma square off against Bayer Leverkusen.
For English clubs and their supporters, the location of the finals adds to the frustration, with Wembley hosting the Champions League final and Dublin’s Aviva Stadium serving as the venue for the Europa League showpiece.