Chelsea's Gary Cahill is delighted Manchester City have advanced from the Champions League group stages - because it stops them concentrating solely on domestic silverware.
The Blues had already booked their spot in the last 16 as group winners before Wednesday night's 3-1 win over Sporting Lisbon at Stamford Bridge.
But title rivals City only made it through to Monday's draw the same night with a 2-0 win at Roma securing runners-up spot in their group.
It is the first time Manuel Pellegrini's team have advanced to the knockout stage – something Cahill is pleased about.
“They did what they had to do to go through,” said the centre back.
“Maybe they would've rested players, or maybe they would've had more time to prepare for games.
“Who knows if that'll have any impact in the (domestic) league. Another English team gone through to the latter stages - which is good.”
Meanwhile, Chelsea's qualification pushes them on in a competition where they have a remarkable recent record of progression – as Cahill well knows.
“It was crazy when I first come (to Chelsea in 2012) - then after six months we ended up winning (the Champions League).
“On the flip side, the year before last we went out with 10 points.
“Last year we were so close. I feel that not just me but as a team we've got more experience than last season. It hurt us a lot to go out in the semi-final. Let's just see who we get, we've done all we can at this stage.”
Chelsea return to league action on Saturday at home to Hull City and Cahill says they have to get back to winning ways after the weekend defeat at Newcastle.
He said: “It's important because at the end of the season we want to be top of the league.
“To do that you see how close City at this moment are to us. Even with that unbeaten run.
“We think about that. How hard we worked to go on that unbeaten run and how well everyone spoke about we were playing - but yet we're three points in front with many games to go.
“That's why the manager was playing down the unbeaten thing. Everyone realises when you're in the league it's so hard to do that - unbelievably hard to go through a season without losing a game.”
