Every day, the morning of Europe 1 looks back on one of the sporting events that make the news.
This Friday, Virginie Phulpin is interested in the presence of three English clubs in the final of the two European football competitions, the Champions League and the Europa League.
According to her, this control of English clubs on European football is as gratifying as it is frightening.
The Europa League final will pit Manchester United against Villarreal. That of the Champions League will pit Chelsea against Manchester City. English football clubs dominate Europe this year. For you, this takeover is as gratifying as it is frightening.
This is the English paradox. Three clubs which squat in the European finals, there is a rather nice little side "football is coming home". You know this famous homecoming celebrated in the Euro 96 anthem which was played in England, "Football's coming home". A hint of vanity and a touch of self-mockery, the two breasts of England. As much as football and music.
Celebrating English clubs and their current success goes well beyond sporting passion. It's a dive into the culture of Great Britain. Tell me which is your favorite group, I will tell you which club you support. The Gallagher brothers of Oasis have only one thing in common, and that is their love for Manchester City. Liam Gallagher made fun of Neymar in the Champions League semi-final against PSG. He is an outright supporter. In the final, Manchester City will face Chelsea. And hey, one of the London club's VIP fans is Blur's Damon Albarn. It's gonna be a remake of the '90s brit-pop war, that finale.
Seen from France, it makes it all a bit jealous.
We are quite far from the three clubs in the finals, and quite far from this interweaving between football and culture.
Football is a way of life across the Channel.
Look how the supporters mobilized to say no to the Super League, they are defending their "way of life".
So seeing English clubs at this level is necessarily a bit touching.
It's not just culture, it testifies above all to the power of English clubs.
They are culturally powerful, but financially even more so.
It's not all literature.
Look at Chelsea and Manchester City.
Face to face in the Champions League final.
But also from tomorrow in the league.
The same big posters every week, it looks like the Super League already.
The English Premier League has exploded TV rights, most clubs are owned by rich foreign capital, and that's how they come to dominate Europe this year.
A real football culture, yes, but also an innate sense of business.
The very one that the supporters denounced with the Super League.
To love English football is also to accept its contradictions.