Man United, Tottenham and Chelsea’s Champions League exits rated

Five Premier League teams went into the Champions League round of 16, but only two made it into the quarter-finals.

It had been touted that we may be seeing a return to the era of Premier League dominance, where each year bar one from 2005-2012 an English side reached the final.

But now only Manchester City and Liverpool will carry on, and there is much to be said about those two sides and the similar nature of their football.

Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur have all crashed out. We discuss if they should or could have done better…

Manchester United

As three-time European champions and 19-time league winners, the manner of Manchester United’s exit at the hands of Sevilla was dire.

Over 180 minutes the Red Devils didn’t dare get at the Spanish side, and they were then caught out twice at Old Trafford.

Sevilla are a side who know their way around European competition – just look at their UEFA Cup/Europa League record – but they’ve conceded five goals on five separate occasions this season.

United were clinical in beating Liverpool last weekend, but then Jose Mourinho reverted to type on Wednesday night.

He told his side to sit back, when Sevilla’s defence has been prized apart time and time again this term.

Mourinho has won the Champions League twice, but the game has moved on, and he has not.

United had the squad quality to go through comfortably, but their manager had other ideas and they deserved to be beaten.

Chelsea

Nobody ever really fancied Chelsea to get very far once they were drawn against Barcelona.

And they were on the back foot from the second Lionel Messi netted an away goal at Stamford Bridge in the first leg.

We’ve got to give some credit to Conte and the reigning Premier League champions, however.

They kept going at the Nou Camp even after the tie was beyond their reach, and gave Barca couple of nervy moments.

Unlike United, they maintained some dignity. Ultimately they were up against a better team and the best player in the world, and there’s no shame in that.

Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham don’t have the European nous of Manchester United and they aren’t reigning Premier League champions like Chelsea. Yet they arguably give it a better go than them both.

Despite collecting more points in the group stage than any other side (in a group with Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund, no less) Spurs were lumped with Juventus in the round of 16.

They did brilliantly to grab a 2-2 draw in Turin against a Serie A side which rarely concedes.

But after taking the upper hand at Wembley, Mauricio Pochettino’s men were undone after the interval.

Max Allegri’s tinkering helped Juventus net twice in less than five minutes to end the tie.

Spurs will rue missing chances when on the front foot, while they showed a little European naivety in the second period.

But they’re a young side and showed some incredible potential on the continent this season.

All Odds and Markets correct as of date of publication