When Arsenal completed a dramatic second-leg turnaround against Bayern Munich and Chelsea battled to a historic shootout defeat of the eight-time European champions Lyon in the Champions League quarter-finals, it hinted at a shifting of the sands.
It was the first time in five years and only the second time in the competition’s 22-year history that two English teams had reached the final four. When Chelsea play at home to Barcelona in their first leg on Saturday and Arsenal visit Wolfsburg on Sunday, it would be easy to paint their feats as coincidental, their relative strength coming at times of transition for other European powers. There would be an element of truth to that, particularly in the case of Lyon, who staggered to the quarter-finals with a lengthy injury list.
