The resurrection tales of Anfield and Amsterdam will long in the memory whatever the eventual conclusion in Madrid. The spectral being in charge of the lever marked logic must have departed its post for 24 hours on Tuesday and Wednesday and left the job to the work experience kid. The resulting Liverpool-Tottenham final is only the second time England have supplied both Champions League finalists. Throw in the progress of Arsenal and Chelsea in the Europa League, and this is arguably the country's finest season in Europe. The blanket domination suggests the is now Europe's best. Liverpool's extraordinary passion play against Barcelona made the case; Tottenham's repeat performance against Ajax seconded it. That both clubs somehow hauled themselves up from the bottom of the well with second-hand climbing equipment underlined not just their resilience and togetherness but also the depth of talent they have at their disposal. No Mo Salah? No Harry Kane? No problem. There is always Divock Origi and Lucas Moura. It was heartening that the providers for the Belgian and the Brazilian were two Englishmen in Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dele Alli. That is how the should be and how - thanks to an improving production line and savvy global managers - it now looks at the top clubs. If there was irony in it taking the introduction of Fernando Llorente and a revision to route-one football from Spurs to pull of the Great parts Escape Take Two, then there should be no shame in that. At Spurs and Liverpool, the traditional strengths of the English game - pace and combativeness - have been melded successfully with the superior technical skill that for so long has been the preserve of continental sides. In a more poetic but no less energetic way, Manchester City, under Pep Guardiola, have set the bar domestically and should secure their second successive title on Sunday. Under the most colossal pressure from Liverpool, where one slip on the high wire would - and still could - be their undoing, City have held their nerve with 13 successive victories. Jurgen Klopp's team have lost just one match all season and yet are still likely to fall short. With those two at the top, punching and counter-punching game after game and pushing 100 points, it has to be the best league around, does it not? A caveat. A league is the sum of all of its parts and in a season in which Europe has fallen to the English, the bottom of the has fallen away. Huddersfield's point against Manchester United last Sunday was the first by a bottom-three side against a top-six club all season. Cardiff could improve that record against United on Sunday but, for a league that prides itself on its competitiveness, it is not a statistic to be proud of. Compare that to La Liga where the bottom three of Huesca, Rayo Vallecano and Girona have mustered 23 points - including six wins - against the top six in Spain, and the differe
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The resurrection tales of Anfield and Amsterdam will long in the memory whatever the eventual conclusion in Madrid. The spectral being in charge of the lever marked logic must have departed its post for 24 hours on Tuesday and Wednesday and left the job to the work experience kid. The resulting Liverpool-Tottenham final is only the second time England have supplied both Champions League finalists. Throw in the progress of Arsenal and Chelsea in the Europa League, and this is arguably the country's finest season in Europe. The blanket domination suggests the is now Europe's best. Liverpool's extraordinary passion play against Barcelona made the case; Tottenham's repeat performance against Ajax seconded it. That both clubs somehow hauled themselves up from the bottom of the well with second-hand climbing equipment underlined not just their resilience and togetherness but also the depth of talent they have at their disposal. No Mo Salah? No Harry Kane? No problem. There is always Divock Origi and Lucas Moura. It was heartening that the providers for the Belgian and the Brazilian were two Englishmen in Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dele Alli. That is how the should be and how - thanks to an improving production line and savvy global managers - it now looks at the top clubs. If there was irony in it taking the introduction of Fernando Llorente and a revision to route-one football from Spurs to pull of the Great parts Escape Take Two, then there should be no shame in that. At Spurs and Liverpool, the traditional strengths of the English game - pace and combativeness - have been melded successfully with the superior technical skill that for so long has been the preserve of continental sides. In a more poetic but no less energetic way, Manchester City, under Pep Guardiola, have set the bar domestically and should secure their second successive title on Sunday. Under the most colossal pressure from Liverpool, where one slip on the high wire would - and still could - be their undoing, City have held their nerve with 13 successive victories. Jurgen Klopp's team have lost just one match all season and yet are still likely to fall short. With those two at the top, punching and counter-punching game after game and pushing 100 points, it has to be the best league around, does it not? A caveat. A league is the sum of all of its parts and in a season in which Europe has fallen to the English, the bottom of the has fallen away. Huddersfield's point against Manchester United last Sunday was the first by a bottom-three side against a top-six club all season. Cardiff could improve that record against United on Sunday but, for a league that prides itself on its competitiveness, it is not a statistic to be proud of. Compare that to La Liga where the bottom three of Huesca, Rayo Vallecano and Girona have mustered 23 points - including six wins - against the top six in Spain, and the differe
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