Borussia Dortmund and Germany centre-back Mats Hummels poked fun at a “painful” week for English clubs in Europe after the Premier League was left with no teams in the semi-finals of the Champions League and Europa League.
Aston Villa were the only English side to advance from this week’s continental ties, with Unai Emery’s team defeating Lille to reach the Europa Conference League semi-finals.
In the Champions League, Bayern Munich knocked out Arsenal while holders Manchester City were eliminated by 14-time winners Real Madrid on Wednesday night.
Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen became the second German side to knock out English opposition with their 3-1 aggregate win over West Ham in the Europa League, while Liverpool also crashed out against Italian side Atalanta.
The set of results means Germany are now likely to be awarded a fifth place in next season’s revamped Champions League ahead of England, with Italy already confirmed as the beneficiaries of the new qualifying format.
Borussia Dortmund joined Bayern in the Champions League semi-finals after a stunning comeback against Atletico Madrid and it means three German teams have reached European semi-finals in the same season for the first time in 29 years.
Hummels posted: “Good harvesting this week my fellow farmers” – a tongue-in-cheek reference to fans of Premier League teams dismissing the Bundesliga as a “farmers league” because of its supposed inferior quality and strength in depth to the English top-flight.
Good harvesting this week my fellow farmers 🤝 🇩🇪
— Mats Hummels (@matshummels) April 19, 2024
It is only the second time since 2017 that the Premier League has no representation in the semi-finals of the Champions League, with Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta lamenting a “painful” night as the Gunners lost 1-0 at Bayern.
“It’s not going to go away, certainly tonight, but I can guarantee you by tomorrow we’re fully focused on Wolves and everybody is lifted.
“What we still have to play for is beautiful. I said before it’s time to be next to these players.
“It’s easy to be behind them and praise the players and talk nice things when we win 10 in a row and one draw.
“The moment is now to be behind them and be next to them.”
