Premier League teams suffer heavy defeats in first round of European knockout stages, only one win among nine clubs – who are dragging the league down?

The Premier League was the most outstanding league in the group stages of all three European competitions this season, with nine teams participating and all advancing to the round of 16. However, after just one round of knockout matches, the Premier League has been "hammered." Only one win among nine teams – who is dragging the Premier League down?

First, let's look at the six Premier League teams in the Champions League: Liverpool lost 0-1 away to Galatasaray, Tottenham suffered a 2-5 defeat away to Atlético Madrid, Newcastle drew 1-1 at home with Barcelona (conceding a stoppage-time penalty), Arsenal drew 1-1 away to Bayer Leverkusen, Chelsea lost 2-5 away to Paris Saint-Germain, and Manchester City lost 0-3 away to Real Madrid.

From a personal perspective, Manchester City is the most disappointing among the Champions League teams. Tottenham, being a relegation-threatened side, losing to Atlético Madrid is understandable. But Manchester City, facing a Real Madrid side that has been struggling this season and dealing with injury issues, managed to lose by three goals. Erling Haaland had zero shots and zero successful aerial duels – truly shocking. Perhaps Pep Guardiola should leave Manchester City, as a major bottleneck has weakened the team.

Now, the three Premier League teams in the Europa League and Europa Conference League: Aston Villa secured a narrow 1-0 away win against Lille. Despite Aston Villa's recent poor form, the Europa League is Unai Emery's comfort zone, and they grabbed an away victory to gain an advantage for advancement – quite impressive. Nottingham Forest lost 0-1 at home to Danish side Midtjylland, a minor upset, with the winning goal scored by Korean striker Cho Gue-sung – Nottingham Forest is indeed dragging the Premier League down. In the Europa Conference League, Crystal Palace drew 0-0 at home with Cypriot team AEK Larnaca. Crystal Palace is truly underperforming; their squad value is €541 million, while AEK Larnaca's is only €14.23 million, and Crystal Palace was playing at home – truly embarrassing for the Premier League.

Summary of Premier League teams' performance in the first leg of the European round of 16: one win, three draws, five losses, goal difference -10, total score 7-17. In two words, it is "disastrous".