West Ham United boss Sam Allardyce has defended the Premier League after Chelsea's Champions League elimination this week. Allardyce wrote in the London Evening Standard: "There is no doubt in my mind that the Premier League, globally, is top of the pile, which makes it disappointing that we may not have a team in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

"You would have to be a supreme optimist to give Manchester City a fighting chance when they go to Barcelona, but while there's life, there's hope.

"Arsenal, too, are up against it when they travel to Monaco 3-1 down from the first leg, but if they can get their noses in front, then the pressure will increase on the home side.

"Monaco have some terrific players and have conceded just one goal in their last 11 games.

"Paris St Germain, who beat Chelsea on Wednesday night, are big spenders. They paid a world record £50million for a defender when they bought David Luiz.

"I'm not sure anyone in this country would pay that sort of money for a centre-half. The Champions League might be the Holy Grail for some of these clubs, but let's be honest - it only comes to life in the knockout stages. Before that, in the qualifying rounds, much of it is tedious, to be frank.

"Our Premier League is unique, though. At any given time a team at the bottom can beat one from the top. That is what excites football fans all over the world.

"We have been reminded, though, over the last couple of weeks that other clubs in Europe - and not necessarily the very biggest ones - have good teams, packed with fine players."