There was a period in the mid-noughties when English clubs dominated the Champions League. Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool all lifted Europe's premier club competition, while in both 2006-07 and 2007-08, the Premier League supplied no fewer than three semi-finalists. Since then, success has gradually dried up to the point where just two English clubs have made the final four over the course of the last five seasons.
Yet on the evidence of the first round of knockout matches in midweek, that barren spell may well be about to come to an abrupt end.
Indeed, as Liverpool tore through Porto at the Estadio do Dragao, Tottenham drew with last year's finalists Juventus in Turin and Manchester City thumped FC Basel in Switzerland, it was hard to escape the conclusion that English clubs will have something to say both in this season's competition - and indeed those over the coming years.
A product of big-money TV rights deals as well as the resultant ability to attract top players and coaches like Pep Guardiola and Paul Pogba, Premier League now appear to be back as a force in the European game. Not only have world class imports like Guardiola helped the English sides make marginal gains in their own play, but it's also arguably the case that the continent's other leading lights - in particular Real Madrid; winners of the last two competitions - may not be the force they once were either.
On the face of it, this season's competition seems particularly wide open. In Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Juventus, the Champions League has a group of high-quality teams that just fall just short of being outstanding. Favourites Barcelona's hopes rest firmly on the shoulders of Lionel Messi with any injury to the Argentine significantly decreasing their potency, while Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain's midweek clash showed the duo are vulnerable defensively, if nothing else. German champions Bayern Munich, too, are perhaps overly reliant on ageing duo Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery for them to be considered as frontrunners.
It is into this potential vacuum that England's improving elite may well move. Such progress would clearly benefit the Premier League's UEFA coefficient- but any extrapolation that sees the league in its entirety as being in rude health would be somewhat wide of the mark.
For while the temptation may well be to see City, Liverpool and Tottenham's results as an indicator of the Premier League's overall strength, a brief glimpse of table shows that below top six, the gap is as great as it ever has been.
Last season, seventh-placed Everton finished in a liminal position eight points off the top six. This year, there are already nine points between Burnley and Arsenal- with the two clubs likely to move much further apart between now and the end of campaign.
Once again, there are at least two leagues within the Premier League as the top six pull further clear of the rest. Where once there was a genuine sense that upsets were possible, now most games between City, United and Co and others play out as a glorified version of attack versus defence - with often one inevitable conclusion.
This season, Burnley, Leicester and Everton have forged another mini-league of teams safe from relegation but equally unable to go any higher than seventh. All that is left for those sides beyond the scant chance of domestic cup success appears to be a Europa League qualifying-round place if the FA Cup is won by one of the teams above.
Ninth placed Everton's predicament remains particularly intriguing from this perspective. Seventh last time around under Ronald Koeman, more than £150m has since been spent on a lop-sided squad - the most of anyone outside of the top six - that has proceeded to go backwards in the last six months.
Despite the increased TV revenue and the arrival of billionaire backer Farhad Moshiri, the Blues have taken just three points from a possible 30 from games against the Premier League elite at a negative goal difference of -22. A significant downgrade on last season's haul of 10 points from 36 with a goal difference of -9 in the equivalent fixtures.
Now operating in a different market financially thanks to Moshiri's clout, Everton's extra funds have only served to help foster a culture of carelessness that has moved the club ever further from the roots of their original, and somewhat relative, success. On the continent, an expensively assembled squad has also been unable to compete with Europa League rivals Lyon and Atalanta- both of whom lag far behind in terms of resources. A timely reminder that even pound for pound, the Toffees are punching well short of their weight.
Caught unawares by savvy Europa League opponents in much finer fettle, and further off the top six than before, Everton's current plight highlights the ongoing strife of the Premier League's middle class. Relegation, at this moment in time, seems a far likelier proposition than any attempt at gatecrashing the pre-existing monopoly found above. Even Burnley in seventh are as close to the drop-zone as they are to Arsenal in sixth, while further down, 10 or 11 sides are battling it out merely to avoid relegation.
As such, while there is a considerable chance that certain English clubs will continue to go from strength to strength in the Champions League over the coming seasons, beyond the top six, elsewhere the Premier League risks becoming more uncompetitive than ever before.
