Michael Ballack concedes his move to Chelsea hasn't gone to plan.

The German freely admits he came to Chelsea to win the Champions League, an ambition yet to be realised by both player and club, but acknowledges that Manchester United have been the better side for the past three years.

"I knew what to expect," he told the Independent. "To come to a great, experienced team, I did not expect it goes like this, easy, to win the league every year. The other teams are too strong for this. I came here to win trophies. To win the Champions League, that's why I came here. There is still a big chance with Chelsea, with this team.

"There is a really, really high expectation from everybody but it starts with the owner and it goes down to the staff, the coaches, to fans, to sponsors. That's why we changed a lot of managers in the past few years. If you see the games we have played, especially in the Champions League, I think we deserved to have won it once, at least. But we haven't done it so it is still the target and we are close to it."