The ascent of Manchester

With Christmas still to come, it’s way too early to be talking about a golden era for the Premier League but you would have to say that the signs are certainly more encouraging than they have been in a long time.

The biggest tests in the European theatre might also still lie ahead but it won’t go unnoticed that, with Liverpool drubbing Spartak Moscow on Wednesday night, five English clubs have qualified for Monday’s Champions League knock-out draw round for the first time ever, quite the contrast with the low watermark of 2012/13 when only Manchester United and

Arsenal made the last 16 where they were knocked out by, respectively, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.