The best league in the world.. Really?

Juventus have made it out of their group and have condemed the Holders Chelsea to the Europa League. But it wasn't all plain sailing as Juve had drawn the first three games, and dropping vital points that could have helped with my level of anxiety on the last day. Their final game against Shakhtar Donesk was always going to be difficult as the Ukrainians had won three games while only drawing 1 and that was against Juve.  Shackhtar only lost twice and they both had an element of fortune about them, the first was a narrow 1-0 to Chelsea and the second was again a 1-0 loss this time to Italian champion Juventus who were helped by a unfortunate own goal. Having said all that, when Shackhtar do lose, they don't lose by much!

It is no secret that The Old Lady has had some difficulty scoring goals, but to get far in a major competition you have to have a solid defensive line, as Chelsea showed last season by winning this competition by focusing on defending.

Juve have defied critics and the polls by getting out of their group, now all they have to do is get to the latter stage of the competition for Italian pride. As Juve are the only one besides Milan that hail from the Italian Peninsular, a lot will be riding on them to put some credibility back into Calcio. Italy lost their third CL spot to the Bundesliga which no one can dispute, having watched the German League on numerous occasions, I have to admit they are very impressive. What I do have an issue with is the English Premier League.

The EPL has four spots and two of the teams have been eliminated before the competition has really got started. Man City were the first to be shown the boot having not won a single game! And  they are the current holders of the EPL- says a lot about the league! Chelsea on the other hand won this competition last season and they couldn't find a way to win comfortable and we mustn't forget that they were pummelled earlier this season when they played the winners of the Europa League; Athletico Madrid. Chelsea's new boss Benitez hit the nail on the head when he eluded to the fact that other teams have surpassed them in quality.

Even Man Utd lost  their last game to Cluj and they were hardly convincing in their previous wins. What Benitez said in his post match conference had alot of truth in it, English teams are all about speed and being physical, and that may be sufficient in the League where everyone plays like this, but on the big stage the team have started to evolve and have learnt how to play well without being big and strong- just look at Barcelona. One of the major problems with English teams is that they've become arrogant and have stopped trying to evolve, when this happens other teams will overtake you and embarrass the league as a whole!