The Albany Gazette - Power, pace and financial muscle: How Premier League sides are ruling Europe

Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester City, Newcastle and Chelsea all enjoyed a higher win percentage in their eight Champions League matches than they have in this season's Premier League.

Mikel Arteta's Arsenal are the first side to finish with a perfect record of eight league-phase wins under the current format, while Tottenham, Liverpool, Chelsea and City also progressed directly to the last 16.

Newcastle face a play-off next month but have little to fear based on the group stage.

"I think we've all said for a few years that the Premier League is the best league in the world and I think that's another sign of it, no doubt about that," said Tottenham boss Thomas Frank.

Bankrolled by television rights deals that dwarf those in other nations, Premier League clubs have long enjoyed a significant financial advantage over most of their European rivals.

In Deloitte's annual Football Money League, released last week, nine of the top 20 highest-earning clubs in the world last season were English.

Five of the six English clubs that have shone in this season's Champions League were in the top 10. Newcastle, in 17th spot, are backed by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund.

During the summer transfer window, spending by Premier League clubs hit an all-time high, surpassing £3 billion ($4.1 billion) -- more than the Bundesliga, La Liga, Ligue 1 and Serie A combined.

- Powerful squads -

That has armed English clubs with deep squads, giving them a huge advantage in a packed football calendar.

Villarreal sit fourth in La Liga, but finished second from bottom in the Champions League group phase, losing to Tottenham and City among the eight matches they failed to win.

"We're a Champions League team, we had a Spanish international, and then Crystal Palace, not one of England's top clubs, came along and signed Yeremy Pino," said Villarreal coach Marcelino. "For a significant sum of money and with a higher salary than any Spanish team could pay."

English clubs have not only asserted their financial strength. On the field, they are often too physically imposing for their continental rivals.

Arsenal cruised to a 3-1 victory away at last season's Champions League finalists Inter Milan last week despite naming a largely second-string side.

"They had more intensity, technique and pace," said Inter boss Cristian Chivu. "I won't point out how much money they spent, as that would be too obvious, but the Premier League does have a very different type of intensity and pace to Italian football."

The success of Premier League sides in Europe this season has come despite underwhelming domestic campaigns for some teams.

Tottenham, 14th in the Premier League, finished fourth in the Champions League table, while Liverpool beat Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Inter on their way to securing third place -- in sharp contrast to their wretched title defence in England.

"In the Premier League, it's become more physical than ever," said Newcastle winger Anthony Gordon when asked to explain the differences between playing in both competitions.

The England international has scored six times in this season's Champions League but has not netted from open play in the Premier League for more than a year.

"It's like a basketball game sometimes, it's so relentless physically," he said. "There's not much control. It's a running game and sometimes about duels -- who wins the duels wins the game."

But that same physicality can take its toll in the latter stages of the Champions League, when players are feeling the strain after eight months of relentless action.

That is when they come up against European powerhouses such as Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, who have the resources to match the Premier League's best.

Those clubs have ensured there have been only three English winners of European football's biggest prize in the past 13 seasons, giving hope to those who fear total domination.

(W.Williams--TAG)