There was a time when English soccer was considered the best. In fact, many will continue to go out of their ways to claim that the Premier League is the best and most competitive in the world.

The former is not true, the latter might be quite damning. If the league is in fact more competitive, then there is an equal parity across the playing field. In other words there is no truly elite side.

That statement has been proven repeatedly in the Champions League this season as the four English sides, all of them with their respective histories, are struggling to make any sense of this tournament.

On Tuesday, they hit rock bottom.

First Chelsea was on the losing end of a 2-1 game against Porto that saw the Portuguese team put together a solid performance at home and take advantage of shambolic defender from Chelsea.

However the more damning result came at the Emirates Stadium where Arsenal lost 3-2 against Olympiacos and is now looking at an early end to its UCL campaign.

The team lost 2-1 in Zagreb thanks to some poorly conceived substitutions to the starting lineup by Arsene Wenger. He seemed more alert at home and put out most of his top stars except his team simply did not deliver. The finishing was poor, the mental fortitude and defense were weak and the goaltending . . . Poor David Ospina. A year ago he was the hero, now he has turned into the villain. The Colombian keeper dropped the ball into the net on the second tally, a sign that his confidence is shot from being benched for most games. This is not a bad goalie mind you. Just ask Argentina in the Copa America how it was to see the netminder constantly shut them down in a game that should have ended 4-0.

So through two games, the team has zero points. Now it has to win at least two of four and draw one.

The problem? Bayern Munich is on the docket for two straight games. Everyone knows that they are the team to beat, destroying Olympiacos 3-0 in the opener and then annihilating Dinamo Zagreb 5-0 in the second game. Imagine what they will do against an Arsenal side that lost to both of those teams?

The reality is that Wenger sent out his best men, almost all of them minus the keeper, into the game against Olympiacos and never had a single lead. The team's defense was atrocious and now has to find a way without Laurent Koscielny.

A draw in one of the two Bayern Munich games could be huge for the side, but a loss automatically puts the team's possibilities into questions. There were times where people were frustrated that Arsenal would end its campaign in the Round of 16; imagine how they feel at the very real prospect of finishing fourth in the group?

It will be interesting to see how the world reacts if Manchester United and City lose their games against German sides. Wolfsburg is a very good team that could give United fits; City is playing away from home and has seen a huge drop in form over the last few weeks.

England's fourth spot in the UCL is in play, and from the looks of it, it will not exist in 2016-17.