What We're Reading
Report: EPL Clubs More Likely to Finish UCL Knockout Games with 10 Men
- ESPN FC, Thursday, February 20, 2014 2:13 PM
Premier League clubs are more than three times as likely to finish a UEFA Champions League knockout game with 10 men than a Premier League game, ESPN is reporting. Moreover, English teams have had a man sent off in almost a quarter of its games in the Champions League Round of 16, Quarterfinals, semifinals or final over the past five seasons: a total of 10 dismissals in just 42 UCL knockout games.
English clubs have only won two UCL knockout series when they have had a player sent off in the past five seasons: Manchester United’s 7-2 aggregate defeat of AC Milan in 2010, when Michael Carrick was sent off in the 90th-minute of a 3-2 win in Italy, and Chelsea’s 3-2 aggregate defeat of Barcelona in 2012, when John Terry was sent-off in the first-half of the 2-2 draw in the second-leg at the Camp Nou.
Interestingly, while English clubs are seeing more players dismissed in the Champions League, they are less likely to be reduced to 10 men in the Premier League. In 258 games so far this season, there have been only 35 red cards issued, giving Premier League clubs, on average, a 93.2 percent chance of finishing each game with 11 players.
