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>Match Report: Chelsea make an all English European final, oust Frankfurt on penalties Chelsea beat Eintracht Frankfurt on penalties to reach the final of the UEFA Europa League, making sure that four English teams will be involved in both of the European finals. Goals from Luka Jovic and Ruben Loftus Cheek had taken the tie into extra-time when Chelsea cleared the ball off the line twice and Cesar Azpilicueta tried to grab a controversial goal late in the game but it was called off. The penalties saw Azpilicueta miss his spot-kick, but two missed penalties from Frankfurt saw Eden Hazard bury the last one in what could be his last game at Stamford Bridge.<doc-sep>Tottenham beat Ajax on the away goals rule (3-2) after the teams finished 3-3 on aggregate on Wednesday to set up an all-English Champions League final with Liverpool. Just like Liverpool's miraculous comeback to beat Barcelona 4-3 on aggregate, Tottenham also made an incredible comeback against Ajax. Attacking midfielder Lucas Moura’s hat-trick sent Tottenham through after a thrilling, end-to-end game. The verified account of Tottenham shared the ecstatic mood of the players in their dressing room. While Ajax's Twitter account tweeted "No words..." to describe their disillusionment at their loss. Tottenham will now face Liverpool in Madrid on June 1 in their first Champions League final.<doc-sep>Long live football! The Premier League returns to reign over Europe International football Tottenham-Liverpool and Chelsea-Arsenal In the last ten years, the Premier League's sides have become used to coming up short in the Champions League. One Brexit after another has been the trend, which was only broken temporarily by Chelsea's winning of the tournament in 2012 and Liverpool reaching the final in 2018. Elite football appeared to have moved away from England and instead Spain was the country that ruled, with Real Madrid and Barcelona dominating the last five - Los Blancos winning four to the Catalans' one. But the Premier League is back and both the Europa League and Champions League finals will be all-English affairs with Tottenham, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal the only sides left standing across both competitions. In the Europa League, only Manchester United in 2017 had interrupted Atletico Madrid and Sevilla's shared dominance. English comebacks "I want to congratulate Jurgen Klopp," said Maurcio Pochettino after Spurs' own heroics against Ajax. "Because Liverpool were fantastic against Barcelona, they are also heroes and we're going to have an incredible final between two English clubs." "Pochettino spoke about Liverpool before the game," admitted Danny Rose. "He showed us that we shouldn't give up." Klopp himself spoke about the Reds' remarkable turnaround and he attributed their extra motivation to last season's loss against Real Madrid. "After losing to Madrid, we felt we had to come back," Klopp confessed, and they did exactly that without Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Naby Keita. Neither Liverpool or Spurs have been all that successful domestically of late. The Merseysiders haven't won their league since 1990, whereas the Londoners have been waiting since 1961. The Premier League has recovered to the heights of the mid to late 2000s when they had six finalists and two champions in Manchester United and Liverpool. In recent years, both 2013 and 2015 saw no English sides progress as far as the quarter-finals. It can't be underplayed how much impact the economic muscle of the league has played though, as the value of the television rights continue to soar.<doc-sep>
Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea and Arsenal have made history by making England the first country ever to have four representatives in the Champions League and Europa League finals in a single season. On Tuesday, Liverpool were the first club to book their place in the Champions League 2019 final, as they stunned Barcelona at Anfield to overturn a 3-0 deficit from the first leg, scoring four goals to go through 4-3 on aggregate. On Wednesday, Mauro Pochettino’s Spurs pulled off a come-back of arguably greater magnitude against Ajax in Amsterdam. After having gone 3-0 down on aggregate following two first-half goals by the Dutch side, Spurs scored three away goals in the second half to secure their first-ever appearance in a Champions League/European Cup final. Chelsea-Arsenal make Europa League final an all-London affair On Thursday, a hat-trick from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and an Alexandre Lacazette strike saw Arsenal win 4-2 at Valencia (7-3 on aggregate) to become the first team to reach the 2019 Europa League final. Meanwhile, Chelsea had a much more difficult task in overcoming Eintrecht Frankfurt at Stamford Bridge, in a game that went all the way to penalties, with Eden Hazard converting the final spot-kick to win the shootout 4-3. Liverpool and Spurs will now battle it out in the first all-English Champions League final since 2008, when Manchester United beat Chelsea on penalties to secure their third European Cup title. Chelsea and Arsenal, meanhwhile, will make up the first all-English Europa League/UEFA Cup final since 1972, when Tottenham beat Wolves over two legs to become the inaugural winners of the newly formed competition.