Last night's elimination of Chelsea at the last-16 stage of the Champions League, leaves Britain with little if any representation left in the later stages of the European competitions this season, in what to some observers' eyes may well represent a falling behind in the standards required to succeed at the highest level. With Everton the sole British side left in the Europa League, after Liverpool, Spurs and Celtic all crashed out in the last round, the likely picture in the Champions League looks even more bleak. Both Arsenal and Manchester City face daunting away trips in their second leg ties next week, with neither tipped to survive beyond this round as a result.
So much had been expected from Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last night, with the supposed Premier League champions in waiting looking well set to go through, after drawing away in Paris against Paris St Germain and scoring a vital away goal to boot. Sadly for them and their fans, they could not quite shake off a tenacious and battling French side, who refused to submit to their rivals, even after Zlatan Ibrahimovic had been sent off on the half-hour mark for a foul on Oscar. To cap their misery at departing the European scene for another campaign, they also had to suffer former player David Luiz scoring one of PSG's equalisers on the night. At least they seem to have rallied around in the aftermath, with captain John Terry responding to the accusation of being labelled "babies" by PSG players, after they surrounded the referee Bjorn Kuipers (as he considered what penalty to give Ibrahimovic).
In Terry's view: "You have to stick up for your team-mates. Every side is as bad as each other. It's part of the game."
Nevertheless, with Chelsea now out, the two remaining British clubs in the Champions League will need to perform heroics in their second legs, if their interest in the competition is to continue. Monaco lead Arsenal 3-1 after a catastrophic performance by the Gunners at the Emirates, where their defence at times was bordering on the comical.
They will surely not play as badly away from home, but to score three times without reply would require Arsene Wenger to elicit one of their greatest ever comebacks.
Manchester City's chances look only marginally better at the Camp Nou, with Barcelona already healthily placed at 2-1 after their visit to the Etihad. Lionel Messi's late penalty miss was all that spared City from the same equation as the Gunners.
Still, two goals for City and none for the likes of Messi, Suarez and Neymar in Spain would seem a tall order indeed.
That may mean that after next week's Champions League ties have been completed, only Everton remain in the Europa League at the last-16 stage. They face Dynamo Kiev in the first-leg at Goodison Park tonight, with the whole of Britain relying on them to maintain a presence. Otherwise, as Eurovision might say, it is "nul points" for the United Kingdom!
