Why Chelsea are not yet at level of Europe’s top sides

It’s been an overwhelmingly successful season for Chelsea, one they could barely have envisaged last term, as Jose Mourinho left the side in mid December, lying in 16th position.

But this year, under Antonio Conte, the side are more attacking, and as a result more balanced in their approach, and importantly the team spirit is far better than before. All this has seen the Blues win the Premier League by a comfortable seven points from Tottenham in second.

As a result, many have assumed that Chelsea are now one of Europe’s top teams – but how true is that assertion? Does winning the Premier League make you as good as the winners of Europe’s other top leagues? Or is it the case that the level of quality in the Premier League, for one reason or another, is lower than at those in Germany, Italy, Spain and even France?

Chelsea finished above a Man Utd side who have made it to the Europa League final, and are not top 4 material even. Tottenham, the second strongest side in the Premier League by a distance, are a better side to compare with, but they failed to get out of the group stages of a Champions League group that included Bayer Leverkusen, and CSKA Moscow.

The other side in that group was Monaco, who were impressive against Spurs, and went on to knock Manchester City out in the last 16, on their way to winning the French Ligue 1, above PSG, who Arsenal couldn’t beat in two attempts in the Group Stage (and who knocked Chelsea out of the same competition the previous year). French football suddenly begins to look quite strong.

Arsenal did an Arsenal and got thrashed 10-2 on aggregate against Bayern Munich in the knockout stages, and the German side were only beaten in extra time in the quarter finals, against Real Madrid. Germany’s other power, Borussia Dortmund, also made the quarters, losing to Monaco. But the Bundesliga only has two teams? Not anymore, as Liepzig took second place this term.

And in Italy, Juventus have reached the final of the Champions League for two of the past three seasons, this time around knocking out Monaco and Barcelona in the process, and conceding just one goal in the last seven in the tournament. Their achievements place them as the second best team in Europe over recent years, and will hope to go one better in the final. Second place in Serie A, Roma, matched Tottenham’s group stage exit.

So are Premier League sides getting worse, or are the other European sides getting better? Next year might be the best opportunity to measure, as Chelsea will need to go to the semi-finals at least, and Tottenham to progress in the knockout stages, to give the Premier League the right to claim it as at the same level of it’s counterparts.

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