Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger still considers the Premier League to be the best in the world despite its European struggles. Of the four English sides left in the UEFA Champions League, only Chelsea managed to get anything from their match and they were also the only English team to find the target.
Chelsea drew 1-1 with Galatasaray, while Man United, Arsenal and Man City lost their respective games against Olympiakos, Bayern Munich and Barcelona. Swansea’s continental adventure has also come to an end, with Tottenham left to fly the Europa League flag. A collection of lacklustre performances has drawn criticism but Wenger believes the competitiveness of the league still makes it the best in the world as well as its entertainment and spectator appeal.
He said: “I maintain it is the best, despite the results. It is the most levelled league. There is not the difference if you take the difference of quality, for example, between Bayern Munich and the rest of the German league. You have Bayern, Dortmund, then there is a big gap.
“In the Premier League you can go to Cardiff, anybody, and lose. Spain was a good league as well. But this season the English league is the most difficult. Maybe as well we pay a little bit of the price for that. Of course, when we play against Bayern you cannot say it is a comparison of the two leagues – it is a comparison of the teams, and they are one of the top ones in Europe.”
Wenger has also claimed that because of this competitiveness, it leaves the top teams tired when they travel abroad for the European competition. He added:
“We pay the price because of the toughness, the intensity maybe. In every game you just have to focus on getting the best team out. It is because of the competitiveness. If you speak to Manuel Pellegrini and Mesut Ozil they will tell you the same. But if you look in the last 10 years, the English clubs in the Champions League have done extremely well.
“If you play against Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern you can lose.”
By Charlie Gregory
@CharlieGLFC
