A great week for the English club sides in Europe. First out were Arsenal. 2-1 down after their away leg in Porto and without Fabregas. A Porto side that looked very dangerous going forward. I had my doubts. I shouldn´t have. 5-0 and a hattrick by the great dane Nicklas Bendtner and their place in the last 8 was sorted. That Manchester United beat AC Milan came as no surprise. “King Rooney” is in a class of his own and Milan are not the Milan of old. 4-0 however was both impressive and flattering. Next week its Chelsea´s turn to make the quarter finals and baring in mind Inter Milans woeful perfomance last night against Catania (1-3) i am sure Ancelotti´s boys will make the hat.
I have now lived in Sweden for 27 years and i have noticed a dramatic change in my attitude towards the English sides playing in Europe. In my pre Sweden days i used to follow all the English teams playing in the then 3 european tournaments but never really with any passion (unless it was West Ham which wasn´t that often). Being a londoner i guess it was OK if the london clubs were successful as it was local lads that had “done good” but when Liverpool, Man Utd and other “northerners” (Aston Villa, Notts Forest) won it hurt. Nowadays however i have become a big fan of all the British sides playing in Europe. It´s been fantastic the last 5 years seeing the “big four” reach the semi´s and final of the Champions League and establish the Premier League as no 1 in Europe.
I guess its the fact that i am at heart a proud “Brit” living abroad and enjoying the success of the clubs i watched as a lad. The ironic part (as i am constantly reminded) is that these successful English sides contain very few English players. A fact i guess i have learnt to accept.
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