Lehman Brothers 2 Inter Milan 0

So, England 3 Italy 0. Or should I say the Premier League 3 Serie A 0. The UK press is full of that British Bulldog spirit, we're the greatest, Mourinho go home, four clubs in the last eight of the champions and all that. Three clubs in the last four last year. The Italian sporting press instead is engaging in navel gazing, self-analysis and trying to figure out what went wrong.

Yesterday's Guardian said 'United's special ones in different class', the Daily Mail 'No Way, Jose', as 'stylish United brush off the special one'. La Gazzetta Della Sport instead gave lavish praise to the English teams. In his article, Arrigo Sacchi, former Milan and Italy manager, refused to believe that luck had been against Inter, Juventus and Roma in their games against Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal respectively. He said that the English teams didn't just owe their success to money, but to "the civility, general knowledge and fair play of the British people which is on a different level to ours". Arrigo's obviously never beenout on a Saturday night in Barnsley then. He concluded that the gap between top English and top Italian clubs was now 'enormous'.

Having watched the three games between Italian and English teams this week, I disagree with both Sacchi and 'The Guardian'. United weren't in a different class to Inter on Wednesday night. They took their chances whilst Inter missed theirs. Mourinho's team totally dominated the twenty minutes before half time and created scoring chances at will. Juventus also came close to beating Chelsea during a spirited performance in Turin and if Mirco Vucinic hadn't made a hash of his effort during the penalty shoot out, my favourite Italian team Roma would have probably sent my father's beloved Arsenal out of the competition.

However, the Italian press is certainly being sporting in its praise of the 'superior' English teams, which considering that the country are reigning World Champions must count as a remarkable demonstration of humility. I think Roberto De Ponti's article in La Correire Della Sera probably gives the best analysis. He identifies three factors in the success of the English teams: Money, debts and long-term planning.

He underlines the incredible balance sheets of last year's two Champions League finalists, Manchester United and Chelsea. United are 770 million Euros (about 700 million pounds) in debt, whilst Chelsea owe creditors a staggering 935 million Euros. They are the two most indebted clubs in Europe. De Ponti likened these debts to cheating, calling them 'Financial Doping'. The number of trophies won by the wo clubs in recent years does seem to suggest that access to credit is giving them an unfair advantage.

Would it be entirely a surprise if one or both of these clubs found themselves in severe financial difficulties in the near future? Who knows, maybe United will be nationalised like the Northern Rock bank!! 'We can't allow a priceless national asset like them. a multinational company, go to the wall!' the politicians will say, as taxpayers complain that their hard earned money is being used to help Cristian Ronaldo pay for repairs to his Ferrari.

Well, as a England fan I'd like to think that even if United and Chelsea go to the wall, at least our English players are gaining priceless experience of playing at the top level which can only help us to mount a real challenge for the World Cup in South Africa next year. Unfortunately, the facts don't give me any grounds for optimism in the chances for my 'Three Lions'. Analysing the teams playing in the last sixteen of the Champions League, there were 21 Italian players on display, 27 Brazilians, 27 Spaniards and guess how many Englishmen? Only 9.

So my message to Manchester United and Chelsea fans is this-enjoy the success while it lasts and maybe, just maybe you'll get to renew your rivalry with Leeds United before too long. And if you're an England fan, hope against hope that Aston Villa develop their present team of largely English players into the strongest in Europe over the next 12 months.