Scholes: Chelsea a long way from being a great team

The former midfielder feels Jose Mourinho's side can only be considered among the best after they have won trophies and was not impressed by their display in Paris on Tuesday

Despite their seven point lead at the top of the Premier League, Chelsea are a long way off of becoming a "great team", according to Paul Scholes.

The former Manchester United midfielder concedes that the Blues could be considered among the best when they won back-to-back Premier League titles during Jose Mourinho's first spell in charge, but not now.

Writing in The Independent, Scholes penned: "Working as one of the ITV pundits on Tuesday night I was surprised to hear Jose Mourinho talking about Chelsea as a 'great team'.

"Great teams have to win trophies first, which means that Chelsea have had a great team when they won back-to-back league titles but they are still a long way off it now."

Mourinho was talking ahead of Tuesday's Champions League Champions League last-16 first-leg clash with Paris Saint-Germain, which ended in a 1-1 draw at Parc des Princes.

Scholes was not overly impressed by the English side and has backed the Ligue 1 champions to cause a potential shock at Stamford Bridge in the second leg.

Assessing the game, Scholes wrote: "I recognise that Paris Saint-Germain have an excellent home record in Europe. Even so, I expected Chelsea to create more chances against them this week.

"They had one attempt on goal, Branislav Ivanovic’s header that went in. Barcelona or Real Madrid might not have beaten PSG but they would have had more than one shot on goal.

"I wouldn’t rule PSG out for the second leg, especially if Zlatan Ibrahimovic decides he fancies it. I think they will score at least one at Stamford Bridge."