No EPL Club Reaches Champions League Quarterfinals Despite League's Riches

The EPL is "discovering its billions do not necessarily bring international victories," according to THE NATIONAL. There is no English team in the last eight of the Champions League, Europe's "most lucrative and prestigious continental competition for the second time in three tournaments." Former Atlético Madrid and Brighton & Hove Albion player Maheta Molango said, "Money doesn't buy success. Premier League players are surrounded by luxury, maybe they think they have arrived and lose their appetite" for winning. London-based branding consultant Jonathan Gabay said that a lack of English clubs in the Champions League "may hurt sponsors and broadcasters." UniCredit, MasterCard, Gazprom, PS4, Nissan, Heineken, adidas and HTC are the "main marketing backers of the tournament." Gabay: "Continuing lack of success of English Premier League clubs in the Champions League potentially means lower U.K. television ratings. Low ratings equates to fewer would-be brand buyers" (THE NATIONAL, 3/19).