The presence of four English clubs in the finals of Europe's two major club competitions raises several questions, most pertinently: How has it come to this? The simple answer: Money scores goals. Over the past five years, the current 20 Premier League clubs have spent a combined net total of 3.287 billion pounds (€3.807 billion, $4.276 billion) on new signings. And, with a new television broadcasting deal worth 4.464 billion pounds and Premier League clubs owned by an increasingly exclusive circle of Russian oligarchs, American businessmen and Middle Eastern sheikhs, this is unlikely to change anytime soon. In the same period, Italian clubs in Serie A have spent €600.40 million, Spanish La Liga clubs have spent €427.09 million, and Bundesliga sides here in Germany have recorded a mere €135.76 million net spent. The equation looks straightforward, but the reality is far more nuanced. The sums spent may differ hugely, but the sporting margins remain fine. DW's Matt Ford Fine margins Earlier this month, Eintracht Frankfurt were just 12 yards (11 meters) away from a first European final since their 1980 UEFA Cup triumph, losing out on penalties to a Chelsea team backed by a Russian oligarch since 2003. About 24 hours earlier, a young Ajax side were a matter of seconds away from a first Champions League final since 1995, losing to a Tottenham side that had already overcome a Manchester City team constructed using over 1.3 billion pounds of Middle-Eastern money since 2008. And before that, Liverpool produced a historic comeback against a team to whom they had sold two of their best former players in Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho, and without two of their current best players in Mohammed Salah and Roberto Firmino. "It's not about money," insisted head coach Jürgen Klopp. "We went through because of our desire and so did Tottenham." Klopp deserves much credit, and of course Liverpool are hardly financial minnows themselves, but the feat would also not have been possible without a Catalan cataclysm which cannot be explained by dollar signs alone. Indeed, Europe's very biggest spenders are nowhere to be seen this week, with Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City knocked out in earlier rounds. The less said about Manchester United, the better. Clearly, money isn't everything. Eintracht Frankfurt were only inches away from the final, Ajax only seconds The cyclical world of football Five English clubs reached Champions League finals between 2005 and 2009, including an all-English affair in Moscow in 2008 when Manchester United beat Chelsea. Just six years ago, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund faced off in the Champions League final at Wembley less than 14 months before Germany lifted the World Cup in Brazil. In 2013, German football was riding the crest of a wave that has since crashed on the shore. Every Champions League final since then has featured a Spanish club, including two Madrid derbies between Atletico and Real. Similarly, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla have won five of the last seven Europa League finals. Footballing trends, whether financial, tactical or both, come and go, and reactionary demands to spend more and more money in order to keep up are neither sensible nor helpful. Eintracht Frankfurt and their supporters have had experiences which money can't buy Be careful what you wish for In Germany, such demands inevitably lead to the debate over the 50+1 rule and whether or not German football clubs should open themselves up to outside investment. But be careful what you wish for. The four clubs competing in this year's finals may be English in name, but there's little English about them in nature. Two are owned by Americans, one by a Russian. The head coaches are from Germany, Argentina, Italy and Spain. And of the 44 players who started the four semifinals, only eight were English. Arguably the only English thing about the four clubs involved are the four sets of match-going supporters. And when you consider the remote location of the Europa League final in Baku and the prices and availability of tickets for the Champions League final in Madrid, it becomes evidently clear that they're irrelevant as well. These aren't actually all-English finals at all; they are all-Premier League finals between international Premier League clubs with global Premier League fan bases watching predominantly on television. The contrast could be seen in the away end at Stamford Bridge in the Europa League semifinal second leg, and indeed in every stadium across Europe that has housed Eintracht Frankfurt's fanatical supporters this season. Those Frankfurt fans control their club and their club puts them first, offering affordable tickets, emphasizing an authentic matchday experience over a television product and promoting an active and independent fan culture. It's a similar story at most clubs across Germany. Jürgen Klopp is right: Football is not all about money. But even if it were, there are some things money can't buy.<doc-sep>For the first time in history, all four teams contesting Europe's biggest footballing competitions will be from one nation - England. Arsenal secured the historic quirk by beating Valencia on Wednesday evening - setting up a Europa League final with fellow Londoners, Chelsea on May 29. The top tier Champions League final will feature yet another London team, Tottenham Hotspur (Spurs) who will face Liverpool on June 1. But how irregular is this occurrence? The Champions League has in the past seen six one-nation finals, with Spain securing half of them. An all-England final for the 2018-2019 season will mark the seventh in Champions League history, and the second time for England. The Europa League, with fewer years under its belt, has seen two one-nation finals from Portugal and Spain. This year's all-England final will be the third in the history of the competition. But while much emphasis has been placed on the location of the teams, a look into the makeup of each team portrays a wildly different picture. All four English teams have foreign managers - from Argentina (Mauricio Pochettino - Spurs), Spain (Unai Emery- Arsenal), Italy (Maurizio Sarri - Chelsea) and Germany (Jurgen Klopp - Liverpool). The players themselves provide an extremely international picture. Less than 20% of Arsenal players are English, while Tottenham has the most English players of the four finalists, making up 41% of its team.<doc-sep>Open this photo in gallery Liverpool's Divock Origi celebrates scoring his side's fourth goal against Barcelona at Anfield. The Canadian Press The idea of the European Cup, when it was created in 1955, was to bring together soccer champions from across the continent to decide which country truly had the best team. Was Real Madrid better than AC Milan? Could Manchester United beat Benfica? Could Ajax beat Juventus? Round after round, year after year, fans finally were able to see top teams battle it out in competitive games with a major trophy on the line. Now called the Champions League, this year’s final will once again determine the top club team in Europe. Will it be Liverpool, from England’s Premier League, or Tottenham Hotspur, from, er, England’s Premier League? Story continues below advertisement The game will take place in Madrid on June 1, but given the participants it might as well be a routine November league match in London. Neither team is the reigning English champion, either: Spurs finished third last season, Liverpool fourth. For decades, such a matchup was impossible; countries were permitted to send only one team to the European Cup, with an exception made only for the defending champion. But in 1997-98, some league runners-up were admitted, too, and before long, three, four and sometimes five teams from the biggest countries were allowed to enter. Suddenly it was possible – likely even – for a team to be champion of Europe without being the champion of its domestic league. Expansion also increased the likelihood that the Champions League final would be contested by two teams from the same country, and it duly happened in 2000 (Real Madrid vs. Valencia) and five times since then. Three years later, Italy’s Juventus met AC Milan. In 2008, England also had both finalists, and Manchester United beat Chelsea on penalties. More recently, a single-country final has become something of a Champions League feature: Bayern played Dortmund in an all-German final in 2013 and, in 2014 and 2016, the finalists came from the same city: Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. Some factions in Europe do not seem to mind this: A group of top clubs, led by Juventus and its president, Andrea Agnelli, is pushing to reshape the Champions League even further, to ensure that the biggest teams always have a place, that the smaller ones get pushed to the margins even more, and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) this week signalled it might be willing to go along. One of this year’s semi-finalists, Ajax Amsterdam, a pedigreed team from a respected league, was considered a plucky underdog in the Champions League; in a competition increasingly dominated by rich clubs from big leagues, Ajax, by comparison, was neither very rich nor its league very big. While 26 teams, including four from England, got to go right into the group stage, Ajax had to get through three qualifying rounds to make it that far. Teams from the very smallest countries would have to get through a full five rounds. After the first legs of this season’s semi-finals, won by Ajax, 1-0, and Barcelona, 3-0, there was hope, at last, for an underdog in the final, even if it looked set to face a Spanish giant. But then Liverpool and Spurs completed stunning comebacks in the second legs, and a final that seemed destined to be about history and style and storied teams – Barcelona has won five Champions League titles and Ajax four – lost some of its magic. Story continues below advertisement Soon, this season’s dominance of the Premier League could extend even to UEFA’s second-tier championship, the Europa League, where Arsenal and Chelsea are on the cusp of advancing to the final. It would be the first time two English teams have met in that final since the first season, in 1971-72. The successful year in European play for England harks back to the late 1970s and early 1980s, when English teams won six European Cups in a row. Despite triumphs by Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool since 2005, English teams have been known more recently for losing Champions League finals (six defeats since 2006) than winning them. This year, England is guaranteed the trophy, and one of the two finalists sometimes faulted for a lack of trophies at home – Liverpool’s most recent English league title was in 1990; Spurs have not won the league since 1961 – will be crowned champion of Europe.<doc-sep>Four English teams will be in the finals of European competitions for the first time ever. Arsenal beat Valencia 7-3 on aggregate in their Europa League semi-final after going into the game with a 3-1 first-leg advantage - Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scoring a hat-trick for the Gunners. Chelsea won on penalties against Frankfurt at Stamford Bridge to set up an all-London final, in a rare example of the English overcoming the Germans on spot-kicks. Blues goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga made two saves, denying the German side's Martin Hinteregger and Goncalo Paciencia. He described penalties as "a little bit lucky", telling BT Sport: "Always we prepare and we are lucky today." Advertisement The two wins follow amazing results in the Champions League earlier this week, with both Liverpool and Tottenham coming from 3-0 down in their semi-finals to see off La Liga champions Barcelona and Dutch giants Ajax. Image: Chelsea's Kepa Arrizabalaga and Cesar Azpilicueta after the match Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil tweeted a picture of the victorious players after their game, writing: "Off to the final baby." Valencia started well at home to Arsenal, with Kevin Gameiro scoring after 11 minutes. But Aubameyang got a goal back for the north Londoners after 17 minutes, calming nerves among the travelling supporters. Image: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a hat-trick for Arsenal Alexandre Lacazette got Arsenal's second goal in Valencia's Mestalla Stadium, before Gameiro grabbed another one for the home side. But Aubameyang followed up with two further strikes, sending Arsenal into the final in Baku - the capital of Azerbaijan - on 29 May. Lacazette told BT Sport that Aubameyang had been "unbelievable", adding: "We want the trophy." Aubameyang said the team had learned from last season, when they were eliminated in the semi-finals. "This year we didn't make the same mistakes, so now we are through to the final and we are all happy," he said. Arsenal manager Unai Emery, who won the Europa League three times with Sevilla, said "the past is for taking experience and using in the present". Chelsea began their tie against Frankfurt at 1-1 following the first leg. A fine finish from the Blues' Ruben Loftus-Cheek put them ahead on 28 minutes, but Luka Jovic replied for Frankfurt early in the second half. Chelsea's Eden Hazard told BT Sport it was "50-50 at the end", adding: "In the end our character was good and we go through. "We are happy and we will go to Baku to try to win the trophy."<doc-sep>
Both the Europa League final and the Champions League final will be all-English encounters for the first time in history. Arsenal reached the Europa League final, sweeping aside Valencia 4-2 away from home in untypical Gunners fashion, to provide some consolation for one half of North London. Pierre-Emerick Aubamayeng smashed a hat trick at the Mestalla. His superbly-taken volley to cancel out Valencia's opener was arguably the pick of the goals. Check out his ice cold celebration with Lacazette in front of the home fans. WAKANDA FOREVER! Arsenal hit back!! :punch: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang grabs a massive away goal... Brilliant from Lacazette, and a clinical finish :raised_hands: pic.twitter.com/fzhsHdwtvZ - Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) May 9, 2019 Advert 10 They will face London rivals Chelsea in the final. The Blues sent Eintracht Frankfurt packing on penalties at the Bridge - following a 1-1 draw (2-2 on aggregate) after being made to sweat by the Germans. The results mean the clubs - which are currently separated by four points in the Premier League - will play each other in the final of the Europa League on 29 May at the Olympic Stadium in Baku, Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, Liverpool will take on Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League final on 1 June at the Estadio Metropolitano in north-east Madrid, Spain. The all-English Champions League final looked extremely unlikely at various points over the course of the last two days though. Advert 10 Both European club competitions will have all-English finals for the first time in history. Credit: PA Liverpool had to overturn a three-goal deficit at Anfield to knock out La Liga champions Barcelona, progressing to the final with a stunning 4-3 aggregate victory. Spurs looked more likely to stage a comeback going into their away tie against Ajax last (Wednesday) night, having lost the first leg at home by a goal to nil. However, the youthful Dutch side raced to a 2-0 lead at the Johan Cruyff arena, meaning Tottenham needed to score three goals without reply in the second half in order to go through. They did just that courtesy of a hat-trick from Brazilian Lucas Moura, who scored his third in the 96th minute of the game to send Spurs through on away goals. Advert 10 Tottenham manager, Mauricio Pochettino - who was tearful at the end of the game - said he thinks the all-English final will be 'amazing'. He said: "I think it's one of the most important nights in my life. "To get the club to the final of the Champions League... I think is very close to a miracle. Advert 10