Regular visitors to the United Kingdom cannot help but be struck, this autumn, by a mood of belligerent isolationism as the country creeps to within six months of a general election.
How much Britons want to engage with Europe has become a pressing issue, dominating the political agenda. Not for nearly 25 years has the UK seemed so conscious of its island status.
One of England’s most popular exports looks isolated, too, out of synch with the rest of the continent.
The English Premier League, which British diplomats abroad refer to as “our equivalent of Hollywood” – an entertainment commodity that sells for a high price across the globe – is getting a bruising at the hands of its European superiors.
Popular as it is to watch, the league is an imperfect setter of standards. As Jose Mourinho, the Chelsea manager, perceptively made the point ahead of the season, its insecurities can seem even more pronounced as its financial muscle swells.
“We are not as proud as we should be and we don’t defend our league,” he said. “That can affect self-esteem and put doubt in players’ minds.”
In most of the eight midweek evenings since Mourinho spoke those words, there have been more doubts than antidotes.
English clubs are conspicuously absent after Matchday 4 of the Champions League from the pacemakers who have secured their passage already from the group phase.
Real Madrid, the title-holders, are through, thanks to back-to-back wins over a Liverpool bearing strong symptoms of diminished self-esteem. Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich are in the knockouts already, three clubs that have each appeared in a Champions League final in the past two years.
They carry a confident familiarity with its hazards, and they have each ticked off victories over English teams in the process.
Once upon a time, that would have been a bright feather in the cap of any Spanish or German team. Their leagues are rated, alongside England’s, in the top three domestic structures, according to Uefa, the European governing body.
But when the entire yield of the four EPL clubs involved in the group stage is just 20 points out of a possible 48, the EPL looks a poor cousin to the Primera Liga and, especially, the Bundesliga.
In three EPL versus Bundesliga head-to-heads, only one point has gone to the English, when Chelsea contrived, at home, to let a 1-0 lead turn into a 1-1 draw against Schalke.
The failure to protect a lead has been an English theme for the EPL sides.
The stirring comeback is an EPL forte, a feature of its audience appeal, evidence of the top-to-bottom competitive zeal that is part of the league’s popularity.
There is far more chance that a club among the bottom rungs of the EPL might produce a shock than, say, a Primera Liga struggler might upset the odds against Real Madrid, especially the Madrid who have scored 19 times in their past five Liga matches for one conceded.
But as pulsating as the EPL can be, a degree of its end-to-end energy comes from the frequency of individual errors, of looseness in possession.
At Arsenal's Emirates on Tuesday, a young Anderlecht team had a hint of that carelessness when Danny Welbeck, Arsenal's England international striker, put a simple backwards pass into the path of an opponent: the Belgian team did not capitalise with a goal, but they took the hint for later.
Liverpool, meanwhile, stood accused of defeatism, their manager Brendan Rodgers having "rested" senior players in Madrid, where Liverpool lost 1-0, with a view to maximising their readiness for their league game against Chelsea on Saturday.
Liverpool have three points from four games in Europe, a low platform from which to launch their bid to join Madrid in the next round, yet they give the impression that their mid-table position domestically is of greater concern than their Champions League predicament.
Compare that attitude to Atletico Madrid, where staff have attributed the recent renaissance to maximising their European adventures.
They point to how seriously Atletico took their 2010 and 2012 campaigns in the lesser Europa League, whereas English clubs tend to deride that tournament.
A club such as Porto do not. They have acquired the sort of deep European knowhow that Liverpool and Manchester City would do well to analyse.
Porto react and rebuild after the inevitable annual departure of their star players for financial reasons.
Liverpool, on losing one star, Luis Suarez, appear bereft, while City, who snatched two Porto players, Fernando and Eliaquim Mangala, in the summer, remain billionaire naifs stuck in European quicksand.
City look on course to fall at the group stage for the third time in four seasons, and if Liverpool, who have already lost to Basel in group play, descend with them, that will be a significant marker of overall English decline.
If no EPL club reaches the final, it will be the third successive year the summit of Europe has been contested with no input from England. Contrast the period from 2005 to 2009, when English clubs appeared in every final.
If German clubs continue to do better, collectively, than their English counterparts, the Uefa co-efficient, the measure of domestic standards, will relegate the EPL beneath the Bundesliga, although only to third spot, behind Spain and Germany, so England would keep their four potential places in the Champions League.
Declines can accelerate suddenly, though, and a tumble to being the fourth-best league would mean that only three tickets are available into the Champions League. Serie A experienced that drop, third to fourth, in 2010.
“Now it is hard to imagine an Italian club winning the European Cup,” the Italy head coach Antonio Conte has said.
“The mentality is slowly changing in Italy, but we still find ourselves playing against ‘smaller’ clubs who don’t allow us to play the way we want.”
As English teams toil in the Uefa Champions League this season, here is a look at how they have fared in the past 10 editions of the competition.
2013/14
Teams entered Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal
How many reached last 16 Four
Best performer Chelsea (semi-finals)
Summary All four reached the knockout stages. Arsenal went out to Bayern Munich in the last 16, as did City against Barcelona. United fell to Bayern in the quarter-finals, while Chelsea lost to Atletico Madrid in the semi-finals.
2012/13
Teams entered Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea
How many reached last 16 Two
Best performer Manchester United and Arsenal (last 16)
Summary City and Chelsea bowed out in the group stages. Arsenal went out on away goals to eventual champions Bayern Munich in the last 16, while United were beaten 4-3 on aggregate by Real Madrid.
2011/12
Teams entered Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal
How many reached last 16 Two
Best performer Chelsea (winners)
Summary United and City were third in their groups and dropped out. Arsenal lost to AC Milan 4-3 on aggregate in the round of 16, but Chelsea won the tournament for the first time, beating Bayern Munich on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
2010/11
Teams entered Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur
How many reached last 16 Four
Best performer Manchester United (runners-up)
Summary All four made it out of the group stages, with Arsenal the only side to go out in the last 16 as they lost to Barcelona. Tottenham fell to Real Madrid in the quarter-finals, as did Chelsea, who lost to United. United made the final at Wembley Stadium, where they lost 3-1 to Barcelona.
2009/10
Teams entered Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal
How many reached last 16 Three
Best performer Manchester United and Arsenal (quarter-finals)
Summary Liverpool finished third in the group stage and went out. Chelsea lost to eventual winners Inter Milan in the last 16, while United fell to Bayern Munich and Arsenal to Barcelona in the quarter-finals.
2008/09
Teams entered Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool
How many reached last 16 Four
Best performer Manchester United (runners-up)
Summary All four made it to the quarter-finals. Liverpool were the only one not to make the semi-finals as they lost to Chelsea. In the last four, Chelsea lost on away goals to Barcelona, while United defeated Arsenal. In the final, United lost 2-0 to Barcelona.
2007/08
Teams entered Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool
How many reached last 16 Four
Best performer Manchester United (winners)
Summary The Premier League’s strongest year, with an all-English final as United beat Chelsea in Moscow on penalties after a 1-1 draw. Chelsea ousted Liverpool in the semi-finals, while Liverpool ended Arsenal’s hopes in the quarter-finals.
2006/07
Teams entered Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool
How many reached last 16 Four
Best performer Liverpool (runners-up)
Summary Arsenal were first to bow out of the competition as they lost to PSV Eindhoven in the last 16. United went out in the semi-finals to AC Milan, while Liverpool defeated Chelsea on penalties to reach the final in Athens. They lost to Milan in the final, 2-1.
2005/06
Teams entered Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Everton, Liverpool
How many reached last 16 Three
Best performer Arsenal (runners-up)
Summary Five English sides entered because defending champions Liverpool did not finish in the top four in the Premier League in 2004/05. Everton were knocked out by Villarreal in the final qualifying round, while United went out in the group stages. Liverpool and Chelsea lost to Benfica and Barcelona respectively in the last 16, while Arsenal lost to Barcelona 2-1 in the final in Paris.
2004/05
Teams entered Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool
How many reached last 16 Four
Best performer Liverpool (winners)
Summary All four sides made the knockout stages, with United and Arsenal going out in the last 16 to AC Milan and Bayern Munich. Liverpool beat Chelsea in the semi-finals and came from 3-0 down in the final in Istanbul to draw 3-3 and beat Milan on penalties.
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