EXCLUSIVE
Frank Lampard has hailed Real Madrid as the standard setters in the Champions League but is fed up with Premier League clubs making up excuses for their collective failures.
No English team has reached the final of Europe's top club competition since the 2011-12 season when Lampard won the competition with Chelsea.
Blues 16/1 with dabblebet to win CL
Real Madrid reasserted their dominance after two successive titles with a UEFA Super Cup win over Manchester United on August 8, and Lampard expects to see improvement from English sides this season after several years of failure in the competition.
"Real Madrid are the favourites, from what they did against Man United and what they did in recent seasons, they have superstars in the team,” BT Sport ’s football expert Lampard told Goal .
“We know the main one but even against Manchester United in the Super Cup, with Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench, the rotation in the centre of passing and movement proved the benchmark.
"Everyone is playing catch up. I do think Chelsea have as good a chance as any out of the English clubs, alongside Manchester City. They have a big squad too and a lot of European-style players who may flourish on the Champions League platform.
"I expect the English teams to have one or two in the semi-final. Definitely, it is time to see an English club compete. There are no excuses for me. Christmas, having no break? Physical league? Not good enough.
"We invest enough in football, we are lucky to have a huge investment in the league because it is so popular. Clubs have brought in players from all over the world, even lesser clubs.
"If you get beaten in the Champions League, then that's because you have been beaten by a better team. It is as simple as that. Unfortunately, for the English teams, the real best teams have been a Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich for a time."
The Premier League has five teams in this season’s competition with Chelsea, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Manchester United all in at the group stage.
Lampard admits that despite all their riches, Premier League clubs have struggled to bring in the world's elite players in recent seasons, which has led to their struggles.
"When you are playing against Messi-Suarez-Neymar or Bale-Ronaldo and Benzema ... all the rest of their players, you could keep going through their squad. We haven't had those game-changers in our major teams,” Lampard said.
"We have very very good players but not two or three game-changers in our top teams and I think that can be the difference.”
BT Sport is where the best in sport go head to head, bringing you live coverage of the Premier League, UEFA Champions League and Europa League, Aviva Premiership, European Champions Cup and Challenge Cup, The Ashes, Boxing, UFC, NBA and MotoGP. For more information, visit www.BT.com/sport
