Europe, the last refuge for Premier League nearly men

England's 'Big Four' all feel they can win the Champions League but only Sir Alex Ferguson expects to win the Premier League
Arsenal v AS Roma - UEFA Champions League
Arsène Wenger's side has been something of a Champions League enigma but Premier League success is a taller order nowadays. Photograph: Jamie McDonald/Getty Images

The Champions League has a habit of turning into a Consolation Cup for certain English clubs. All those galling days on the domestic scene are forgotten. Liverpool, for example, had been incapable of preserving a lead at the JJB Stadium a few weeks ago, but could win 1-0 at the Bernabéu without fuss. Chelsea, too, relived the days when they used to exert stern control by going in front against Juventus and then giving them little hope of an equaliser.

Arsenal's self-esteem was in recovery when they needed only to reproach themselves for not adding to Robin van Persie's penalty against Roma. It was a marked improvement in any case since Arsène Wenger's team had failed to score in its three previous Premier League matches.

Manchester United are different from the others since their authority is seamless from the domestic battleground to the European arena, where domination ought to have delivered a win over Internazionale at San Siro instead of the goalless draw.

It would be foolish, of course, to suggest that an era of domination has been established. Since the end, in 1990, of the five-year ban imposed on English clubs in European competition after the Heysel Stadium disaster the European Cup has come to this country on three occasions. Milan alone have lifted the trophy as often as that over the same period and it has been borne off to Spain on five occasions. The most that can be said is that there may now be the makings of a prolonged Premier League ascendancy.

If the current ties are not in the balance, they are tilting only slightly towards United, Chelsea and Arsenal. Liverpool can be much more confident, but it would only take an opener for Real in the return leg to have consternation flooding Anfield. The confidence that does exist rests on the realisation that Premier League money buys not only fine footballers but managers with the expertise to deploy them.

Should a World Cup-winning coach such as Luiz Felipe Scolari misfire Chelsea can replace him with the renowned Guus Hiddink. If the Dutchman really does go back to devoting himself solely to his other job as manager of Russia, the club can always commit themselves to recruiting, say, Carlo Ancelotti or Frank Rijkaard. The forcefulness in this particular market has been at least as significant as the wheeling and dealing for players.

Sir Alex Ferguson does not merely go on dominating because of the aptitude he has shown since East Stirling employed him 35 years ago. He learns constantly from his foes. Each threat has galvanised and instructed a person who retains a curiosity about the world at large. Finding the answers to the problems posed by Jose Mourinho at Chelsea opened up a new front for United. The tactical shifts are not mere attempts at imitation by a person who is, at heart, out of sympathy with the trends. Ferguson's team is no pastiche and, at San Siro, its 4-2-3-1 formation operated with fluency and flair.

The knack did not come readily and United mishandled quite a few challenges between taking the European Cup in 1999 and regaining it last season, but there is mastery in every area at the moment. He alone has looked capable in maintaining command in both English and European football. It is too soon to tell if Hiddink can reinvigorate Chelsea in the domestic arena without access to the transfer market. Benítez, a superb schemer on specific occasions has still not demonstrated that he can build momentum over a long stretch of the domestic programme. The Champions League has become his haven.

Wenger is a puzzle. A person could hardly be more cosmopolitan, but his renown has been greatest in the context of Premier League history thanks to the 2003-04 season of the Arsenal invincibles. While he might conceivably have landed the Champions League, were it not for the early dismissal of Jens Lehmann in the final with Barcelona three years ago, the tournament was something of a disappointment even when his side was more fully developed than it is now.

Nonetheless, English clubs, without bombast, think automatically of winning the competition. That target is taken for granted while Liverpool and Arsenal have much to do before they can convince even themselves that the Premier League, with its stern demands over nine months, is actually within reach.