Could the Premier League be out of the Champions League by March?

It is looking rather grim for Arsenal and Chelsea in what has already been a very dark season for English clubs in Europe.

With Manchester United and Manchester City out of the Champions League by the end of December, it was left to the capital clubs to bear the torch for the Premier League - I won't say England as Arsenal and Chelsea are hardly good representations of England anymore.

Alas, it looks like the torch will be extinguished very shortly as Arsenal and Chelsea have suffered their own Italian tragedies. The Arsenal were annihilated by AC Milan 4-0 at the San Siro, only a few seasons after their historic win there, while a sorry Chelsea were beaten 3-1 by Napoli in a performance that must have been inspired by the host city's own trash problems.

Barring two major miracles back in London, it looks like the Premier League's involvement with this season's Champions League will be over before the end of March leaving the likes of Barcelona, Milan, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich etc. to challenge for a place in the Final in Munich.

Now this is European football after all and not an extension of the Premier League with UEFA branding so this is probably not a bad result for the continent as a whole.

However, after consistently having 3 teams in the semis and at least 1 team in the Final apart from one season (2010), this season has been a rather poor one for the Premier League.

So has the Premier League gone soft? Or have the European leagues just got better?

No, the Premier League hasn't got soft. In fact, the very fact that it has just got tougher and more competitive might mean that clubs aren't quite able to cover home and abroad as well as they might have in recent years. The fight for Champions League spots in the Premier League has never been better with 7 clubs in the running for Europe's elite competition - not bad at all.

Yes, the European leagues have definitely caught up - if they ever needed to. The Serie A, Ligue 1 and Bundesliga have improved and clubs from those leagues are now more adept and experienced with the English clubs. And as usual, Real Madrid and Barcelona continue to set a standard that is on another level from the rest of the world. Surely those two must be favourites for the title now.

And European football as I've alluded to earlier comes in cycles. Every country will have a bad season and often will have a great one thereafter. After all, the Premier League bounced back the season after they didn't have a team in the Final for the first time in 6 years in 2010. They will certainly bounce back after the disappointment this season. The Serie A and Bundesliga have also had horror seasons in Europe in the past.  All bounced back.

So no the Premier League bubble hasn't burst. It is just a hiccup. But at least for Arsenal and Chelsea, it might mean they can concentrate their efforts on making the Champions League again - one of them will surely miss out at this stage.