True, but there have also been a variety of challengers. When Liverpool won everything (yawn) they were challenged by the obvious, but also the less obvious - Bobby Robson's brilliant Ipswich side, Norwich were a pain in the butt to them, as were a team on the South Coast (83/84 aargh!). The other thing that made it all a bit interesting was the destiny of the FA Cup was always an open question. The team going for the league rarely featured - the double was a rarity - but any team from mid table Division 1 to middle of Division 2 was in with a shout. I think saying we have had so many teams in the CL final is a smokescreen. All the English teams playing in Europe have looked second best when it mattered.
???? Italy is at quite a low standard compared to the EPL. Spain is a 2 horse race, Germany similar. The Prem even though people may say it is between 2 club (the 2 Manchester clubs) is in reality a 5 or 6 horse race where at the start of the season at the moment any of the Manchesters, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool 'could' win it and as Europe becomes more and more of a watered down gimmick where 'the next best' from each country actually compete in a competition called 'The Champions League' has reduced the prestige of the competition. Personally I think a fair few of the PL teams now see the Premier LEague as the holy grail and the CL as a side issue, a nice add on. A lot different than just 5 years or so ago and while those top6 (may well become 7 or 8 over the next few years) get closer to each other in terms of competitivenes then managers cannot afford to risk resting as many players in PL matches for 'big european matches'. They are having to use their best nearly every week in the Prem just to keep at the top and the CL is becoming a distant second in terms of importance to them. Different than Barca's view where they are in a 2 horse league that they have a much better chance of winning while resting players and the CL to them is a more competitive competition to them than their domestic league. I think it's a good thing and hopefully Uefa will see that and return the prestige eventually by returning the CL to a 'real champions' competition as it should have remained.
