City have splashed yet more cash, signing Javi Garcia, Jack Rodwell, Scott Sinclair and Matija Nastasic amongst others. United have opened up the chequebook with Kagawa, van Persie and Buttner. Juventus have strengthened with Isla, Asamoah and Giovinci. Real bought Modric. Barca bought Alba and Song. PSG and Zenit lavished tens of millions on the likes of Ibrahimovic, Hulk, Thiago Silva. Chelseas success last season appears to be the catalyst for a huge amount of spending by select teams across Europe. Perhaps their negative style lowered the bar in many peoples minds, so that they thought, with a few choice buys, they could be in a with a striking chance of winning the Champions League. Of Course, Chelsea did not sit on their Champions League prize money for long, but there are still questions marks over one or two areas of the team, in terms of quality and depth. Winning the Champions League just got harder, making Chelseas mission to be the first team to retain their European crown that more challenging.