Diego Simeone has admitted his surprise at the fact there are no English clubs left in Europe as he prepares Atletico Madrid for their Champions League quarter-final second leg . The are no Premier League clubs in the last eight of the competition after Chelsea , Arsenal and Manchester City were eliminated at the last 16 stage , while Everton were dumped out of the Europa League in the previous round . And Simeone , who takes his side to the Bernabeu to face local rivals Real Madrid on Wednesday , believes the failure of English clubs in Europe this season should kick the country 's top-flight into gear . Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone has admitted his surprise at the plight of English clubs in Europe . Chelsea 's players look dejected during their costly draw at home to Paris Saint-Germain last month . Barcelona 's Luis Suarez beats Joe Hart during his side 's 2-1 win against Manchester City at the Etihad . Click here to read Simeone 's column in full . In an exclusive column for goal.com , Simeone wrote : ' I am surprised there are no English clubs left in the Champions League - English football has enormous potential with its footballers and also its financial clout . 'The fact that there is no English team left in the last eight of the Champions League or in the Europa League is a wake-up call for the Premier League to look at why it is that , despite their great economic power and with all the many great footballers playing in England , Chelsea are so far ahead of everyone else and why they have no teams left in Europe . ' Despite his shock at the plight of Premier League clubs in the Champions League this term , Simeone believes that Spain is still home to the two best teams in Europe . La Liga leaders Barcelona are on the verge of reaching the semi-finals after a 3-1 win at Paris Saint-Germain last week , while Real have home advantage against Atletico following a 0-0 draw at the Vicente Calderon . Arsenal 's Mesut Ozil sits on the turf after his side 's last 16 Champions League exit at the hands of Monaco . Simeone believes his side will face one of Europe 's top two teams when they take on Real Madrid . Beating Barca to the title last season was harder than winning the Champions League , according to Simeone . Simeone added : ' I believe there are many great players in the Premier League and the financial conditions allow a number of teams to bring in top talents . That said , the Spanish league still has the two best teams : Real Madrid and Barcelona . 'So for us at Atletico , we are competing against two teams with the obligation of winning the Champions League . At the very least , Madrid and Barcelona are among the last eight in Europe every season and usually the last four , so for Atletico to win La Liga last season was a tremendous achievement . ' Atletico will fancy their chances in Wednesday 's second leg after stopping Carlo Ancelotti 's side from scoring a potentially vital away goal in last week 's opener . The hosts will be without the injured trio of Karim Benzema , Gareth Bale and Luka Modric , while Marcelo is suspended after being booked in the first leg . Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid drew 0-0 in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final . Gareth Bale will miss Wednesday 's second leg after picking up an injury against Malaga on Saturday .
There are no English clubs left in the Champions League or Europa League . Diego Simeone admits he is surprised at the plight of Premier League sides . He believes Barcelona and Real Madrid are the top eight clubs in Europe . Atletico Madrid face Real Madrid in their Champions League quarter-final .