The Blaugrana centre-back cannot understand why the Premier League has stuttered in the Champions League, claiming elite clubs in England are “punished” by the split of TV revenue

Barcelona centre-back Gerard Pique has insisted that the Premier League must look to make changes following English football’s failure in the Champions League this season.

For the first time since 1996 there are no sides from England in the quarter-finals of Europe’s premier club competition, with Manchester United and Arsenal both failing to win respective ties against Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in the last 16.

And Pique believes that the Premier League’s elite clubs “get punished” over the split of television revenue, compared to the monopoly Barca and Real Madrid enjoy in La Liga, suggesting that English football needs to consider changes to compete with the best in Europe.

“Maybe English football needs a rethink,” the Spain international told The Daily Telegraph. “They have gone from having three teams in the semis to now – none in the quarters.

“The Premier League gets punished in relation to La Liga as the television money is more evenly distributed in England, but does that explain the difference with Madrid and Barcelona? Not totally perhaps. People say the league is more equal than La Liga but nonetheless United are 12 points clear of second place.”

Asked whether it’s a matter of the coaching methods being applied in English football, Pique added: “Maybe it is a coaching situation. I don’t know. There is another way of looking at it, every club has to look at their reality. Do Arsenal have to renew their ideology or leadership?

“United win the league more often than not and always compete well in Europe, I don’t understand why not this year. Manchester City are a similar project to Paris Saint-Germain, with lots of stars that might need time to settle. Every club has got questions to answer.”