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Times are quite tough over in Spain. The forever sunny place for football is far from being all sunshine and rainbows as of late, and the all-English finals in both of the biggest European club competitions was only the icing on the cake; the punchline to the one big joke neither Barcelona nor Real Madrid find amusing. Both of them crashed and burned in the Champions League: Barcelona did that weird thing they do in Europe and Real finally played the piper at the end of the two-legged bout with Ajax Amsterdam, the eventual semi-finalists of the competition.

A similar thing happened in the Europa League as Arsenal quickly dispatched the only real contender for the crown in the Bats of Valencia, while Chelsea made sure the world would get to enjoy two English champions of Europe whatever happened in either of the finals. It's safe to say a rather dark cloud was suddenly over Spain, and when it started raining, they quickly realised it was not really raining, it was very much pouring, as the saying goes. It also made us all think: Is this the end of Spain's dominance or can they make a comeback next season?

But this was not the first time Spain's monopoly, or duopoly if you will, was broken. Remember, back in 2012/13 season, Bayern Munich prevailed in the all-German affair, beating Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in the Final of the Champions League, while Chelsea brushed Benfica aside with the same final result in the Europa League. The Spanish teams were nowhere to be seen. The machine that Pep Guardiola spent four years building was slowly getting figured out, Real Madrid got steamrolled by the eventual finalists, and the only Spanish team to make it past the Round of 32 in the Europa League was Levante. But Rubin Kazan made sure they would have none come the Quarter-Finals, as they swiftly netted two in the second leg, hitting the final nail into Spain's coffin.

So this is very much something that, granted, hasn't happened in a while, but is something that's not much of a novelty either. But what's even more interesting than that is the usual response the nation as a whole has in those scenarios. After Chelsea's triumph in the Europa League, Spain went on to claim four out of the next six, involving Sevilla's treble from 2013/14 to 2015/16 and Atletico Madrid bagging one in 2017/18. A similar thing happened over in the Champions League.

Ever since Bayern lifted the trophy in 2012/13, and before the latest iteration in 2018/19, all of the Champions League winners were of Spanish descent. That makes for five trophies in five years and, of course, four going Real Madrid's way while Barcelona managed to salvage one for themselves in 2015. So, when everything is said and done, maybe we should rephrase the question posed earlier. It is not really a question of whether or not Barcelona, Real Madrid and the rest of Spain will get back on the horse after suffering a setback, but it's rather can England sustain their run now that they have seemingly gotten back to the summit?

English football dominated Europe back in the late '70s and early '80s, and a case could be made for Fergie's early Manchester United era but since then, the world has been catching up rather swiftly. The cycle of dominance, after all, is a never-ending one. In short, if you are at the top today, nothing guarantees that you'll be there at the start of tomorrow. This is true for life in general, not just football. It's a dog eat dog world out there, and we're just living in it.

Liverpool look as dominant as ever, Chelsea were great in the Europa League, Manchester City are playing the most beautiful and tactically complex football on the planet and are, therefore, dubbed one of world's best, despite failing in the Champions League. The future does look great for them, especially since both Barcelona and Real Madrid have ageing squads that are in dire need of refreshment. If there was ever a time to strike, it is now, because the chances are, their biggest rivals cannot be kept down for too long before they mount a comeback.

For now, though, it doesn't seem like next season will see a dramatic shift in power, because processes and cycles like these take time. Currently, England once again have the best teams and the best coaches, and the results are showing. But the sleeping giants are known to cut their hibernations short when needed.

Will England withstand their strikes once the time comes? We'll just have to wait and see.