Real challenge for Euro hopefuls

It took seven years of record financial investment, and almost as much emotional expenditure, to win the Champions League for Chelsea; and so the biggest debate as the 2012-13 campaign gets under way today is whether Manchester City’s journey will prove equally as dramatic — and whether Roman Abramovich’s dynasty is just beginning or just ending.

No one could argue that Chelsea’s remarkable victory over Bayern in Munich last May was anything other than gripping and inspirational; in fact Frank Lampard says he had letters from Arsenal, Manchester United and even West Ham fans telling him exactly that.

But the improbable and nerve-wracking manner in which Chelsea completed their owner’s long-held dream, including a backs-to-the-wall performance in Barcelona that will go down as one the greatest and most defiant defensive displays in history, suggests it would be foolish to expect the same again despite further investment in the ensuing months.