EPL clubs are now Europe’s outsiders

THE Champions League is back but this season’s English clubs appear destined to only have a supporting role.

Only three have gone beyond the last 16 in the last four years as the power has shifted elsewhere.

The three principal Spanish clubs, German duo Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund and Italian champions Juventus all have star names and will be the teams to beat.

The Premier League may be the richest in the world and its clubs may have spent more than £1 billion on summer transfers but they will be underdogs and dark horses on the European stage.

For a start, Manchester United, the club who spent a world record £89 million on Paul Pogba, will be playing in the Europa League instead, while Chelsea are missing out on European football altogether for the first time in 20 years.

Manchester City lead the charge. They reached the semi-finals last year and will expect to do at least as well now that Pep Guardiola is at the helm.

Being paired with Barcelona is not ideal, and they will have to be wary of Borussia Moenchengladbach and Celtic.

But Guardiola hasn’t spent more than £150 million to spend to ensure they just get out of the group. Ambitions will be much higher than that.

Coming through the group stages is never a problem for Arsenal but going beyond the last 16 is.

The Gunners should finish above Basel and Ludogerets to qualify but finishing ahead of Paris St-Germain is essential to avoid the heavyweights in the knockout phase.

England’s other two clubs provide romance and intrigue to a competition that can be a bit stale.

Leicester’s reward for winning the Premier League was to be top seeds and facing Porto, Club Brugge and FC Copenhagen offers a good chance of progression. Everyone will be fascinated to see how Claudio Ranieri’s side get on but things will get harder if they get out of the group.

Tottenham return after six years and they have swapped White Hart Lane for Wembley for home games. A group with CSKA Moscow, Bayer Leverkusen and Monaco is accessible but it doesn’t bring the glamour tie the money men would have wanted.

And for those of you hoping Leicester will prove people wrong once again? Their odds to win the Champions League are a mere 50/1!