Joe Cole admits Chelsea need to win the Champions League to be regarded among Europe's elite.

The Blues midfielder admits Europe's premier competition has become the club's Holy Grail after more near misses than he cares to remember.

Cole said: "It's so important for Chelsea as a football club to win the Champions League.

"If we are building ourselves up as a club as big as United, Madrid, Barcelona or Milan, then we have to win major trophies.

"Everything else is already in place - the players, the manager, the whole set-up is fantastic. But the Champions League will help us as a worldwide club, to show that we're here to do the business.

"The Premier League will always be very important to Chelsea, but the Champions League has now become a massive target for us all.

"We have come very close in the last five years and maybe we should have won it on a couple of occasions."