Two weeks after the Premier League announced it had sold the television rights to its games for a record-breaking £5.136bn, four out of five of the leagues representatives were deservedly beaten in European competition.
Arsenal typified the misery of the Premier League, after Monaco beat Arsene Wenger's side 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium. To rub salt in the wounds, Monaco arrived in London billed at half strength, with five of their regular first-team players absent from their starting line-up.
Monaco took the lead after Geoffrey Kondogbia's deflected shot sailed past David Ospina. Former Tottenham striker Dimitar Berbatov scored the second, as Per Mertesacker's naivety left Laurent Koscielny exposed to the onrushing Anthony Martial and Berbatov. The Bulgarian slotted the ball home, as Arsenal's suicidal defence capitulated once again.
The Gunners were incompetent throughout the tie, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain providing their only source of quality, after producing a stunning curled finish in the 90th minute. Minutes later, Yannick Ferreira Carrasco condemned Arsenal into requring three away goals, after stroking the ball in off the post to silence the half empty Emirates Stadium.
Manchester City were beaten 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium by Barcelona. As the British media's favourite scapegoat Luis Suarez scored both of the goals to leave City with a two goal deficit ahead of their trip to the Nou Camp.
Sergio Aguero provided City with an ember of hope, after he pounced on David Silva's cute pass, before coolly slotting past Marc-Andre Ter-Stegen. Lionel Messi should have added a third for Barcelona, after Pablo Zabaleta brought Messi down and conceded a penalty. Joe Hart's heroic save, left Messi with the task of heading into an open goal, which the Argentinian mysteriously blazed wide.
Questions were asked by the media after the game, regarding Manuel Pellegrini's decision to play two up front against Barcelona. City were overrun in midfield and gifted Barcelona the opportunity to dominate possession and ultimately paid the price. City weren't helped by Gael Clichy, who was stupidly sent-off in the 74th minute, after receiving a second yellow card.
Manchester City's next opponents in the Premier League, Liverpool were comfortably beaten 1-0 after 90 minutes by Besiktas at the Vodafone Arena in Istanbul. The Reds then lost 5-4 on penalties, after Dejan Lovren blazed his effort over the crossbar.
After a first-half consisting of Veli Kavlak repeatedly tackling Mario Balotelli, the Reds were rightfully punished in the second-half by Slaven Bilic's side. Substitute Tolgay Arslan guided the ball past the helpless Simon Mignolet in the 72nd minute, as Besiktas' pressure was finally rewarded.
Demba Ba should have scored Besiktas' second, after thrashing the ball off the crossbar in the 90th minute from five yards out. After a terrible extra-time period, the game was decided by a tense penalty shootout.
Lovren's Liverpool career had already been miserable prior to his trip to Istanbul, but after blazing the decisive penalty over the crossbar, his agent will probably be on the phone arranging his departure. Lovren might have done them a favour in the long-term, as Rodgers side can now prioritize finishing in the top four.
Tottenham were beaten 2-0 by Fiorentina, courtesy of two defensive errors from their centre-back duo Federico Fazio and Jan Vertonghen. Only one Englishman starred in the game, yet he was playing for Fiorentina, as Micah Richards produced a faltless performance.
Mario Gomez scored the first, after a dreadful mistake by Fazio on the halfway line, allowed the German to slide the ball under Hugo Lloris.
Vertonghen dithered in the area, allowing Chelsea loanee Mohamed Salah to race through and blast home the second goal. A dreadful night for Spurs, was exemplified by Roberto Soldado, who scuffed the ball into Neto's grateful hands, after being slid clean through on goal by Erik Lamela.
Mauricio Pochettino rested Harry Kane and Ryan Mason, as Spurs looked ahead towards the League Cup final against Chelsea. Fiorentina were unbeaten in ten matches, and in the second-half the Viola capitalized on Spurs lack of attacking threat and defensive frailties to comfortably qualify for the last sixteen.
Everton were the saving grace during an abysmal week for the Premier League, as they beat Swiss side Young Boys 3-1 at Goodison Park. Roberto Martinez's men breezed through with a 7-2 aggregate scoreline.
The Toffees started terribly, as Sekou Sanogo gave Young Boys the lead. Yet, Romelu Lukaku followed up his hat-trick in the first leg, with a brace in the second leg to help gloss over his inconsistent Premier League form.
Kevin Mirallas grabbed the third, after Darron Gibson provided the assist of the tie, by slotting the ball through the static Young Boys defence. Mirallas took the ball in his stride and left the goalkeeper Marco Wolfli with no chance.
Ironic, that the league billed as "the best in the world" suffered four out of five defeats in European competition. Yet, a league plagued by match-fixing scandals in recent years, Serie A saw Fiorentina, AS Roma, Juventus, Inter Milan and Torino all prosper in Europe. The marketers of the Premier League sure have some explaining to do.