When a potential new Chelsea manager is invited in to Roman Abramovich’s home in Belgravia to discuss terms, the talk is always of football and tactics.

When guests describe being invited on to his yacht, Eclipse, what strikes them is the number of screens showing football.

And we’re not talking about Super Sunday, Liverpool v Manchester United. Abramovich’s screens are much more likely to be tuned to Ligue 1 or the Eredivisie.

Roman Abramovich is a regular at Stamford Bridge and has become knowledgeable about all football

When Abramovich took over the club in 2003 he knew very little about the game, but was determined to learn

The Russian's time in charge of Chelsea has brought unprecedented success to the west London club

It might seem normal that a football club owner is obsessed with the minutiae of football, but it isn’t. Most simply don’t have the appetite for the level of detail Abramovich has for the game.

And coming after a week of awful performance by English clubs in the Champions League, you wonder whether Chelsea’s relative success in European cup competitions, which is now is an aberration for the Premier League, might be related to the fact that Abramovich is so deeply immersed in the sport?

Not the business of the sport, though clearly that is also upper most in Abramovich’s mind; it would be naïve to suggest otherwise.

But Chelsea’s owner also wants to understand the sport itself, from the grass roots up.

Branislav Ivanovic's headed goal in Paris has put Chelsea in the strongest position of the English sides

Ivanovic scored in a 1-1 draw in Paris, and Chelsea will be hopeful of progress at home next week

Since buying the club Abramovich has made sure to understand the sport from the grass roots up

His associates say he knew little when he bought Chelsea. Now he is a man who could confidently discuss the form of Sporting Lisbon’s latest emerging 21-year-old central defender Tobias Figueiredo with the hippest football hipster.

It is becoming a truism that Chelsea are the one Premier League team capable of living with the progression of football tactics over the past five years: the obsession with pressing pioneered by Pep Guardiola, the attention to detail in defensive shape, how you create chances and the speed at which you can counter attack.

Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal are all considered with something of a wry smile among the major European clubs: they are big beasts, blundering around in the jungle but with very little awareness of what is going on around them.

The Cheslea owner celebrates with captain John Terry after finally winning the Champions League

Abramovich lifted the trophy he most coveted aloft in 2012 after a penalty shoot out win over Bayern Munich

On board Roman Abramovich's yacht you are likely to see TV screens showing European football

No-one now expects them to be able to cope with Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Maybe they can upset them over one match, but eventually their tactics, a lack of mental discipline and a deficit of Champions League know-how will find them out.

Only Chelsea are truly feared in Europe. It is partly they obtained an almost-mythological reputation in 2012, with a Champions League triumph which defied logic and wounded Europe’s major players in Barcelona and Bayern.

Chelsea have established something akin to a voodoo sign over Europe’s clubs. If a side that limited could be smart enough to achieve that, then what might they do with better players?

The psychological hold enhanced by the presence of Jose Mourinho. But what makes Chelsea’s progress in Europe more interesting is that it is spread across a number of managers and now over a number of years.

Jose Mourinho, a two-time Champions League winner with Porto and Inter, adds European intrigue

Mourinho aids Cheslea's image as more tactically astute than England's other clubs in European games

Mourinho has been a key part of Chelsea's success, but they have won trophies under several managers

You do have to account for the aberration of 2012-13, when Chelsea became the first holders of the trophy unable to progress to the group stages.

Roberto Di Matteo, having guided the club to the ultimate goal, was ultimately exposed by his inexperience.

But even in the year that their European reputation might have taken a fatal blow, they managed to redeem themselves by plotting a way to a Europa League win under Rafael Benitez. And, as a raft of English clubs can testify, that is by no means straightforward.

That suggests it has as much to do with the players and certainly Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, John Terry and Petr Cech are crucial components to Chelsea’s hard-earned European nous.

Year by year, they gave accumulated knowledge. All are very strong characters. Put that together in a team, leave them to mature together and what transpires is an unbreakable spirit and winning mentality crucially combined with tactical intelligence.

John Terry remains a linchpin of the Chelsea side, but the players around him have changed over time

Frank Lampard (left) and Didier Drogba (second right) are no longer at the heart of Chelsea's triumphs

This current side rely on only one of those players. Of course, this current side have yet to win anything and they failed at the semi-final stage to a much less well-resourced Atletico Madrid team.

And they could still be beaten by Paris St Germain at Stamford Bridge next week which would make it a truly miserable round of games for the Premier League.

However, there is no denying they have consistently looked the most-capable of English teams.

It is almost as if the rest are happy in their splendid isolation of their £5.1 billion TV deal, uninterested in how football is developing in the rest of the world.

The crash, bang, wallop of the Premier League and the money it brings insulates you from European failure.

Chelsea represent something different, however. They appear curious and challenged by European competition. It is as though the whole club will not be content with domestic triumphs; they know the true test of how good you are is in the Champions League.

Arsenal were beaten 3-1 by Monaco at the Emirates stadium last week as English sides struggled in Europe

Despite their owners' thirst for success Manchester City have been found wanting in the Champions League

And you have the impression that Abramovich obsesses about that in a way in which it is hard to imagine Stan Kroenke or Joel Glazer does.

And even if Sheik Mansour and Khaldoon Al Mubarak are clearly focussed on the Champions League, they are clearly some way from accumulating the knowledge Chelsea have.

The uncomfortable conclusion, for those of us who once dismissed Chelsea as comical, nouveau-riche, ingénue on the European scene, is that, somehow, over ten years of hiring and firing managers, buying their fair shares of duds and attempting to overwhelm Europe with roubles, Chelsea have built a structure which delivers a top quality squad, combining youth and experience, and maximise its quality by appointment intelligent coaches.

You can see their improvement in their current transfer dealing, whereby players are now sold high (David Luiz, Andre Schurrle, Juan Mata, Romelu Lukaku, Ryan Bertrand) and bought relatively low (Diego Costa, Cesc Fabregas).

Selling David Luiz for £50million to Paris St Germain was a sign that Chelsea have become more prudent

The signing of Juan Cuadrado was balanced by selling Andre Schurrle at the same time

A young Kurt Zouma (right) and relatively cheap Dieogo Costa (left) show Chelsea's new transfer policy

You can see it in the balance of the squad, which was only recently awfully lopsided but which now pays as much attention to solidity and defence (Thibaut Courtois, Nemanja Matic, Kurt Zouma) as it does to flair and attack (Oscar, Eden Hazard, Juan Cuadradro).

They might have taken their time and they might have stumbled upon some of the solutions but Chelsea are developing a reputation of being the best-run club in England.