La Liga teams not in a European final for the first time in six years

La Liga clubs have enjoyed a good deal of European success. While English commentators have been fixated on the EPL 4-for-4, from the Spanish perspective, it is somewhat odd just to be sitting on the sidelines at this point.

It has happened, but not that often. The only other seasons since 2000 were

2002-3 (Milan/Juventus CL, Porto/Celtic EL)

2004-5 (Liverpool/Milan CL, CSKA Moscow/Sporting Lisbon EL)

2007-8 (Man United/Chelsea CL, Zenit/Rangers EL)

2012-13 (Bayern/Borussia Dortmund CL, Chelsea/Benfica EL)

The last of these was somewhat tainted by Malaga’s spectacular collapse vs. Dortmund (and an offside goal), but still....

So is this year an aberration? Hard to know, but I expect so. Given that two of the beaten semifinalists were Spanish, it’s not as if the league was struggling. More to the point might be that in recent seasons English sides have been happier to prioritize the Europa Legaue than they used to be, partly because the prize money, while nowhere near CL standards, is now pretty good.