English clubs have struggled in the competition in recent years which has been highlighted by Arsenal, Chelsea, Man Utd and Chelsea's uncharacteristic results in the tournament this term.
Concern has grown over the Premier League losing it's fourth qualification spot for the competition, with Italy's Serie A hoping to snap it up.
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Petr Cech says English clubs struggle to adjust to the mentality of the Champions League
And Cech, who lifted the title with the Blues in 2011/12 season, says it's more to do with the mentality of the teams rather than the quality.
He told Sports magazine: “I know from my own experience why. If you look at the game against Olympiakos, the only time they looked like they couldn’t cope was when we played at full intensity.
"In the European game, there is not the same rhythm, even down to the way the referee blows the whistle more often than in the league and how everybody is kind of cheating with the time.
"The English teams are so used to playing end-to-end stuff that, when the game slows down, everyone gets frustrated.
"We always had a problem with the Italians [at Chelsea] because they made us almost fall asleep with the way they walk around. You think: ‘Oh, the game is easy,’ and suddenly you are 3-0 down because you fall into this trap.”
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Arsenal suffered a humiliating defeat to Olympiakos in their last Champions League outing
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“We need to be more cautious in European games because every week English teams get caught. We need a change in mentality to make that switch between Premier League and European games.
"You know it’s going to be more tactical and slower. So you need to make sure that, even if the game goes really slow, you pick up your own intensity. It’s the only way.
"The other factor is that we spend so much energy on every game in the Premier League that sometimes the teams you play prepare better because they can afford to rest players [in the league]. You can’t do that here. If you want to win it, you have to play every game 100 per cent – no matter what.”
