Premier League sides can conquer Europe again

Not since David Batty and Graeme Le Saux in Moscow in 1995-96 have the English staged such an apology of a fight in Europe. Yet barring a miracle for Arsenal in Munich next week, the inevitability of Premier League exclusion from the Champions League quarter-finals still does not warrant the doomsday headlines.

Richard Scudamore deliberately resisted the temptation to blow the Premier League's trumpet in April 2008 when his organisation supplied three of the four Champions League semi-finalists so why should he play the Last Post now that the English have been embarrassed in Europe? As Scudamore is fond of saying: "Football is cyclical." Vive la difference, viva Ronaldo and roll on next season.

Rather than sulking on the sidelines, enviously watching the Spanish, Italians and Germans drive down the road to Wembley and the May 25 climax, the Premier League should congratulate them, in part emulate them, and focus on beating them next time round. English football is hardly in terminal decline.

Of the last eight finals, Scudamore's league has provided eight representatives (Manchester United three times, Chelsea twice, Liverpool twice and Arsenal once), including three winners, Liverpool in 05, United in 08 and Chelsea last year. Hardly a crisis.

Everyone now loves and lauds the Bundesliga, arguably the best kilo-for-kilo league in Europe. They look after fans. They keep costs down. They nurture many players for the national team. The Germans have much that is right. But none of their clubs have been champions of Europe since 2001.

For all the current soul-searching brought on by the failure of Chelsea, Manchester City, United and (most probably) Arsenal, of far more significant damage to English football would be a defeat for England in Montenegro on March 26. The prospect of not qualifying for the 2014 World Cup, missing out on what promises to be a special sporting party in Brazil, really would lead to a period of prolonged national mourning. Scudamore's clubs have dominated recently and must now, their egos bruised, regroup. It is the philosophy of the Premier League to celebrate new challenges, teams rising up from the Championship and owners like Roman Abramovich and Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan arriving and investing, introducing more competition at the top. Driven by such law-of-the-jungle principles, the Premier League can hardly complain if such rules are applied in European combat.

It is actually healthy for English clubs to have their rights-fuelled, feverishly-hyped bubble pricked occasionally. German football is going through a revival, as is Italian defending, as is the type of incisive and inspired management as embodied by Jose Mourinho in Real Madrid's defeat of United.

Those assessing changing currents in European waters must be wary of not being dragged in the wrong direction. Can the quick thinking of a very special coach such as Mourinho be used as overwhelming evidence that the Premier League is toast?

It was Mourinho's swift, cold-eyed analysis of events at Old Trafford on Tuesday when Nani was dismissed after 56 minutes that helped push United towards the exit door and English football to today's bout of hand-wringing. Can one substitution, however shrewd in its thinking and timing, namely Luka Modric replacing Alvaro Arbeloa, underpin the contention that the Premier League's influence has subsided? Mourinho is brilliant, bold and clearly desperate to resume his love affair with the Premier League, judging by his outrageous flirting with United on Tuesday, so the horizon of English football is not all dark clouds and cold fronts.

The popular prints in Castille made enlightening reading yesterday, not solely for finally praising "Mou" but also acknowledging the blessed fortune that came Real's way when the inexperienced referee, Cuneyt Cakir, decided that Nani's innocent attempt to win the ball with a raised boot was worthy of red. If Nani's offence on Arbeloa was of the kung-fu variety, as Uefa effectively intimated, then it was more Bruce Forsyth than Bruce Lee.

Cakir's inability to understand the difference between accidental and aggressive should not be allowed to prejudice thinking of the Premier League. Cakir got it wrong. Without his mistake, United would probably have won and the inquest would have focused on Spanish football not English. Fine lines.

The spotlight flits between Continental Schadenfreude over Premier League travails and also Uefa refereeing edicts. On Sunday, White Hart Lane hosted one of the most intelligent refereeing performances of the season with Mark Clattenburg's sensitive handling of the north London derby. Two days later, Old Trafford rightly fumed at the incompetence of Cakir. Both officials are in contention for the World Cup. Heaven help teams in Brazil if Cakir is selected ahead of Clattenburg.

Cakir's calumny stirred thoughts about how such referees might be helped by the introduction of a sin-bin. Nani, who deserved at most a yellow, could have been sidelined for 10 minutes. A huge game would not have been ruined. Sir Alex Ferguson's well prepared and hitherto successful plan would not necessarily have gone up in smoke.

Cakir's ineptitude has undermined Uefa's credibility, especially after the once respected Pierluigi Collina, Nyon's refereeing guru, came out and backed him. A raised foot need not be dangerous. Applying Cakir's logic means that goals celebrated by Uefa and Fifa, such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic's overhead kick against England in Stockholm, would be ruled out because he could have harmed nearby opponents. What nonsense.

Wayne Rooney's airborne finish against Manchester City had Micah Richards and Vincent Kompany in close proximity yet neither complained. Marco van Basten's overhead gem for Ajax against Den Bosch, Rivaldo's for Barcelona against Valencia and Eidur Gudjohnsen for Chelsea against Leeds? All potentially risking opponents' good looks if Cakir's stance was common practice.

On reflection, Tuesday evening was far more damaging long-term for the Uefa refereeing fraternity than the brotherhood of English football.