Juventus midfielder Andrea Pirlo believes Premier League clubs' time to rule the Champions League will eventually come again, despite their poor showing in the competition this season.
No English team made it past the last-16 stage of the competition this year, in a repeat of the scenario from the 2012-13 season that also saw all Premier League clubs eliminated in the first knock-out phase of the competition.
It is a pattern that suggests the clubs that were the dominant force in the Champions League at the back end of the last decade have lost their way in Europe's elite competition. Yet Pirlo offers an alternative narrative ahead of his side's appearance in the final of this season's competition against Barcelona this weekend.
"You usually find that dominance in Europe moves in cycles," Pirlo said, in comments appearing in the Daily Mirror. "Since I have been playing I have seen all major leagues in Europe dominate the Champions League.
"The fact that English teams didn't do well this year means nothing. The top English teams will be as likely as any other team to win it next year.
"The Premier League might not have the best team in Europe at the moment, but I still think it is the best league. In terms of competitiveness and having five or six teams that are chasing for the Champions League, I don't think anybody else has that."
Pirlo has won the Champions League on two occasions in his illustrious career (2003 and 2007), yet when he reflects on AC Milan's loss to Liverpool in the 2005 final in Istanbul, the emotions of the night still appear to be raw.
"The loss in Istanbul against Liverpool is not just one of the worst feelings in my career, but in my life," he stressed. "I will think about that before Saturday. I will use that feeling as inspiration -- because I never want to feel like that after a game again."
Pirlo went on to pour praise on his Juventus teammate Paul Pogba, as he backed the 22-year-old Frenchman to rise to the top of the game in the coming years.
"If he carries on the way he is, then he will become the greatest midfield player in Europe -- and at his age he could have that title for a long time," Pirlo stated of the former Manchester United man.
"I don't understand why Manchester United let him go. If you look at their midfield now they could really use a player like him. It might have been a personal issue for Alex Ferguson, because it is clearly nothing to do with ability.
"He [Pogba] has never really talked about the situation, but whatever the reasons he left, it has been great news for Juventus."
While Pirlo is enjoying playing alongside one former Manchester United man in Pogba, he went on to admit one of the big regrets of his career was missing the chance to star alongside another former Old Trafford player.
"I have been so fortunate to have played with so many incredible players throughout my career, but if I could pick one that I never got the chance to play with, it would be Paul Scholes," he added.
"One of the all-time greats. A genius on the field, but private -- no circus around him off it. I have a lot of respect for him."