Steve McManaman has told ESPN that Premier League clubs are miles behind their leading Champions League rivals and suspects they will come up short in the competition once again next season.
No English team made it through to the quarterfinals of this season's Champions League, repeating a theme from the 2012-13 season and McManaman fears the gap in class between Europe's best and the Premier League teams will be tough to close.
"The English teams haven't been good enough, it's as simple as that," two-time Champions League winner McManaman told ESPN, speaking at the launch of the BT Sport Europe channel.
"We have good teams here who might win the Premier League, but they are not a patch on the teams we saw in the latter stages of the Champions League.
"Everyone wants to play like Barcelona or Real Madrid or Bayern Munich. They play a style of football that is exciting to watch, they create hundreds of chances and score hundreds of goals.
"The gap can be closed by the English clubs, of course it can, but it will not happen quickly. Do I seen an English team winning the Champions League next season? Probably not, but I certainly expect them to compete better.
"We had no teams in the last eight this season and I would argue that was just a blip. At least I would hope that is the case and I'd expect it to change next season.
"Chelsea and Arsenal should have gone through, but they were pushed out of the competition for one reason or another. Were Monaco a better team than Arsenal? I don't think so. It was also a big shock to see Chelsea lose to PSG when they had the game at their mercy.
"Yet while I expect to see English teams in the quarterfinals and beyond, I'm not sure they will be the teams winning the trophy next season. Barcelona will be the team to beat next season for sure.
"Their front three are something else and they were too hot for the rest to handle."