Is the Premier League Still the Best League in 2026?
On March 10th and 11th, the first leg of the Champions League's Round of 16 kicked off. Of the 16 teams in the knockout stage, six of them are from the Premier League: Liverpool, Newcastle, Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Manchester City. Newcastle and Arsenal are the English sides that performed better than their colleagues, as both recorded 1-1 draws. However, the remaining four teams from the English league lost by large margins. This raises questions about the Premier League's reputation as one of the best leagues in the world, particularly in terms of player quality, tactics, and coaching compared to those of its European counterparts.
March 10th: Liverpool, Newcastle, and Tottenham
Liverpool traveled to Turkey to play Galatasaray. The Turkish side won the match 1-0. Liverpool have not been inspired in the Premier League, and their sluggish performance reflected on the European stage. Galatasaray leads the Turkish league by four points. As of March 12th, the defending champions of the Premier League sit outside of any European qualification spots in sixth place. With only nine matches to play for the rest of the season and a 19-point difference from them and the number-one spot, it doesn't look optimistic for them that they will defend their title. It is also concerning for them if they do not qualify for any European tournaments next season either. However, that will be up in the air depending on whether English sides win the Champions League or the Europa League. If the winner of the Champions League is a Premier League side not already in the top five for European qualification, they automatically qualify for next year's Champions League. Liverpool would have to win the trophy to automatically qualify for next year's tournament, as it is outside the European qualification places in the Premier League standings.
Newcastle took on FC Barcelona at St James' Park. Newcastle looked the stronger team in the first 20 minutes as they rained down relentless assaults on Barcelona's goal. Harvey Barnes finally broke the scoreless deadlock in the 86th minute; however, a sloppy challenge on Barcelona's Dani Olmo by Newcastle's Malick Thiaw gave the Spanish team a penalty. Lamine Yamal converted the penalty for a late equalizer, which resulted in a draw. If not for that conceded penalty, Newcastle could have bragged that they were the only Premier League team to win their first leg of the Round of 16. The errors were too much for Newcastle's players to overcome. Desperate to keep their lead, they got messy in the penalty box. The mistake from Thiaw questions the English team's discipline rather than Eddie Howe's managerial tactics. Looking at the rankings for each team in their domestic league, FC Barcelona is at the top of La Liga with a four-point advantage over second-place Real Madrid. The Spanish side's position is better than Newcastle's position of 12th at the time of writing. Newcastle had a case to be the underdog in this match against heavyweights Barcelona; however, the Spanish team wasn't up to their normal standards, and Newcastle got extremely lucky with a draw.
Tottenham is the final Premier League team to have played on March 10th. Spurs faced Atletico Madrid at their stadium, the Riyadh Air Metropolitano, in Spain. Similar to their terrible season in the Premier League, where they sit, as of March 12th, in 16th place. Spurs are two places away from being relegated. While Tottenham is on the verge of relegation, Atletico Madrid is in third place in La Liga. The North London club's luck for the 25-26 season got worse as they lost 5-2 to Atletico Madrid. In the second leg of their Round of 16 match, they may have the home advantage, but they would have to prevent Atletico Madrid from scoring and score at least three goals to either win the match or force it to a penalty shootout.
Tottenham is not the best team at the moment to represent the Premier League's playing prowess, given their poor showing in their own domestic league. Tottenham has great players like Xavi Simons, Micky van de Ven, and Cristian Romero, a World Cup winner. However, their problems seem to stem from the club's business side. Their longest-serving executive chairman, Daniel Levy, stepped down in September 2025, but even before Levy left, coaches came in and out. The club lacks stability and consistency in its management and tactics. Since 2023, the Spurs have had five coaches: Cristian Stellini, Ryan Mason, Ange Postecoglou, Thomas Frank, and now their current interim coach, Igor Tudor. Tottenham's problems with consistent tactics and internal issues have been building for a while. It's a miracle in itself that Tottenham reached the Champions League knockout stages. Still, the instability within the club is starting to show in bad performance after bad performance.
March 11th: Arsenal, Chelsea, and Man City
Arsenal traveled to Germany to face Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Arsenal have been formidable in the Premier League as they hope to win this year's trophy finally, and they are on track to do so, currently top of the table. After being shut out of winning the title for almost three seasons in a row after finishing second, or bottling the league, as the British say. However, in their first leg of the Champions League Round of 16, they faltered, not recording a goal until the 89th minute, via a penalty. The penalty was converted into a late goal by Kai Havertz. He scored the equalizing goal against his former boyhood club. He played for both Leverkusen's youth and senior clubs for a combined 10 years.
Arsenal has been under scrutiny lately. The Brighton head coach, Fabian Hürzeler, called out the Gunners for their time-wasting tactics, and many pundits are wary of the constant goals coming from set pieces rather than open play. They currently have 59 goals in the Premier League. Of those 59 goals, three of them are penalties, six of them are from free kicks, and 16 of them come from corner kicks. Arsenal have become known for their set-piece and corner-kick goals. This match further puts Arsenal under scrutiny, as they were unable to score in open play despite holding a slight majority of possession over the German team: 57% to 43%. Leverkusen edged Arsenal out with one more shot recorded, but both teams had three shots on target.
Chelsea traveled to France to go against Paris Saint-Germain. The English side currently sits in fifth place as of March 12th, and PSG leads Ligue 1 by only one point. It seems the two London clubs that traveled abroad received the same scoreline, as Chelsea matched Tottenham's 5-2 loss. Similar to Tottenham, Chelsea has had a revolving door of coaches since Thomas Tuchel in 2021. Since 2021, Chelsea has had eight managers: Tuchel, Graham Potter, Bruno Saltor, a returning Frank Lampard, Mauricio Pochettino, Enzo Maresca, Calum McFarlane, and finally Liam Rosenior. Many of those coaches were only at the club for a year or less. Enzo Maresca claims the longest tenure, about two years. Chelsea's lack of managerial consistency, their tendency to pay big money for players who then get injured, and their overly large squad are all negatives working against them. They can challenge other teams in certain matches, but their consistency is not consistent. The English club has a lot of work to do to reach the Champions League quarterfinals.
Manchester City was known as a giant in the Premier League and their domestic tournaments, as they always seemed to win a trophy in the past few years, or at least when Pep Guardiola finally took control of the Sky Blues. However, last season, Guardiola went trophyless for the first season with Manchester City. He may be trying to redeem himself this season. He can be optimistic about the Carabao Cup, as they are already in the final and must face Arsenal on March 22nd at 12:30 p.m. EDT. They are closing in on the FA Cup Final. However, their path to the Champions League final looks grim, as Federico Valverde scored a hat-trick against the English side with his team, Real Madrid. Los Blancos' goalie, Thibaut Courtois, was able to keep a clean sheet against the traveling team as well. City will have a lot of ground to cover in their second leg of the Round of 16 if they want to move into the quarterfinals.
Overall, the English teams' performances in the Champions League against their European counterparts were negative, as all six English teams lost. Additionally, they are facing first, second, and third-place teams in their domestic leagues. Meanwhile, the Premier League teams in the Champions League are all over the place, ranging from first to 12th. However, it is surprising to see Arsenal draw against Leverkusen as their form looks great enough to win a quadruple. However, the Gunners need to start scoring more from open play rather than relying on free kicks, set pieces, and corner kicks. It came as a surprise that Newcastle United were able to fend off FC Barcelona for as long as they did. The Magpies looked as if they might win the match, but their lack of discipline allowed Barcelona to equalize. Liverpool's form has not been overly impressive this season, so keeping the damage to a 1-0 defeat will help them bounce back in the second leg. Both Chelsea and Tottenham face an uphill battle to claw their way back into the knockout stages, with their aggregate score standing at 5-2. However, they might have a slight advantage, as both will have home matches and won't face road fatigue. Man City also has the advantage of playing at their home stadium in the second leg. They have an aggregate score of 3-0 down, and even their manager is pessimistic about his team's chances of advancing in the Champions League. The second leg of the Round of 16 takes place on March 17th and 18th, with the matches played at 1:45 p.m. EDT and 4:00 p.m. EDT.
