Will anyone stand up to claim Europe's biggest title?

	As Manchester United has struggled to find consistency, it has ridden the magic boots of the hyper-talented young Cristiano Ronaldo. Clive Mason/Getty Images
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I am not impressed. Not at all. Don't get me wrong, I'm not necessarily unhappy. Parity can be a wonderful thing, it leads to all sorts of glass half-full, half-empty arguments. It's either a sign of mediocrity or competitiveness and it leads to endless debate.

But looking at this season's Champions League, one thing seems obvious: There is no outstanding team. Nobody has been consistently great domestically and in Europe. And everybody has glaring weaknesses. It's quite a change compared to last season, when Barcelona looked unstoppable this time of year.

And now?

Chelsea is the bookies' favorite. The same Chelsea that is nine points off the pace in the Premiership. The same Chelsea which has played to its potential perhaps twice all season. The same Chelsea for whom everyone except for Didier Drogba and Michael Essien is having a sub-par year, whether due to injury (Petr Cech, John Terry), wear-and-tear (Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole) or basic underachievement (Andriy Shevchenko, Michael Ballack).

So if Chelsea is unimpressive, surely the team that is nine points ahead in the Premiership must be great, right? Wrong. Manchester United has been doing it with smoke and mirrors all season. And lately the cracks have started to appear.

United struggled to dispatch Reading in the FA Cup. It was outplayed by a mediocre Lille team in Europe. It enjoyed a massive dose of luck at Fulham, when the referee some how failed to grant a penalty when Edwin van der Sar steamrollered into Heidar Helguson. United has been riding the young shoulders of Cristiano Ronaldo all season. Sir Alex Ferguson has done a masterful job of holding it all together, but at this stage, United is a pale imitation of its former, dominant self.

Lyon has been so dominant for so long domestically that it's fashionable to perennially describe it as a darkhorse. Well, in the past six weeks, Lyon has lost to such powerhouses as Marseille, Bordeaux (at home!), Troyes and Toulouse, while being held at the Stade Gerland by Nice and Sochaux. So much for that. Plus, Gérard Houllier is still at the helm.

Who else? Liverpool and Arsenal are 16 and 20 points behind domestically. Rafa Benítez's men continue to lose in places like Newcastle and Blackburn. Liverpool's strikers change every game, while maintaining the same distinct standard of mediocrity. Steven Gerrard's position on the pitch remains the biggest talking point a sure sign that there is still plenty to do. As for Arsenal, the loss to Blackburn in the FA Cup signaled the first time in four years that the Gunners had lost three consecutive games. Their time will come, it just won't be this year.

You won't find much solace in Spain either. Real Madrid is a combination zoo/bad reality show/lunatic asylum. Barcelona without Samuel Eto'o is like U2 without Bono. Barcelona with Eto'o is a ticking time bomb. And with the type of defense it showed against Liverpool, it's not going to get better any time soon. Valencia has won four of the last 10, hardly a record-breaking clip.