Premier League: 8 Glaring Questions From This Season So Far

5. Will The Champions League Winners Come From England?

This is being written after Arsenal and Man City's 2-0 losses. Many thought Bayern Munich and Barcelona would inflict misery on their English counterparts over two legs anyway, but losing 2-0 at home in the first leg shows little fight to prevent that from happening. In their defence, Bayern and Barcelona are the two favourites for the tournament and few can deny that the German team are one of the best footballing sides from the last couple of years. So who, if any, of the Enlgish teams faces the best chance winning the competition? Barring a mircale, we can presume that Arsenal and Manchester City are already eliminated. Although it may be premature to say so, it seems impossible for Arsenal to beat Bayern Munich, in Germany, with their first choice keeper absent through suspension. The current Champions League holders showed Arsenal just how far they still have to come to win this competition, with 88% possesion in the second half and Toni Kroos (who was magnificent) completing more passes in the second half than all the Arsenal players combined. Manchester City's result was undoubtedly swayed by the dismissal of Martin Demichelis but, either way, for them to get a positive result at the Nou Camp is unlikely. Chelsea seem the most likely to produce the goods. They have a manager who knows how to win the competition (having done so with Porto and Inter Milan) and a squad that is strong in both attack and defence. They have an easier draw for the round of 16 having drawn Galatasary and unless Drogba and co. provide a shock they should make it through to the quarter finals. From there it's luck of the draw and all about Mourinho being able to motivate his men and using his vast tactical knowledge to beat the favourites. If you want to bet on an English team, Chelsea seem the safest bet. Manchester United don't seem to know where the next win is coming from at the moment. They have dropped quite dramatically in team quality and that obviously doesn't bode well when you couple that with a manager with no experience in this competition. Having said that, Moyes and his men qualified very comfortably. With players such as Rooney, Van Persie and Januzaj in attack it's silly to dismiss United completely and they do have a sense of Chelsea in 2012 about them. Knowing they are not the best team in the competition may work in their favour, as long as Moyes changes his tactics accordingly. Dark Horses? Although there is a case to be made for all of the English teams, the sheer quality and know how of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich leave me with only one answer to the question I posed. Can an English team win the competition? Not likely.