The Champions League is supposed to be the showcase for the world's best club teams. When asked what the best league in the world is, most would quickly claim the English league. It is the most competitive, the most physical, the most suspenseful. There are more than two or three contenders.

Yet what they fail to note is that England might be more competitive because the quality across the board is rather even. In other words, there is no truly elite side.

That has been borne out by the performances in the Champions League where the English side have been tricky to track down.

On one hand you could just look straight at Arsenal and see Arsene Wenger's side as the ultimate enigma of the tournament. Lose against two bad teams (or inferior ones) and then beat the best team in the world.

Yet that would be rather simplistic an approach because the entire English roster of teams in the UCL has been poor. Manchester United has just four points from its first three contests and sits second in its group; the team's only win came at home while its away games have yielded a loss against the current last place side and a draw against the third-place team.

Meanwhile Manchester City has six points in Group D but has looked sloppy at times in a tough group.

Then there is good old Chelsea. Jose Mourinho's side was supposed to sleep through this group with 15 to 18 points. Not a chance anymore. With four points in three games, the Blues sit in third place and are looking rather vulnerable. They likely still finish second place in the group, but God bless them having to face Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or Barcelona in the second round. This team has no chance of dreaming for a quarterfinals if it meets any of those sides in the first knockout stage.

It is possible that all four teams will get out of the group stage. Based on the numbers, three of the four should easily get there. However no one is picking any of these teams to win the entire tournament. In fact who fancies them to make a deep run?

That is not indicative of being the best in the world.