JOSE MOURINHO SAYS any team in the world would struggle to finish ahead of Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Mourinho, 49, guided Real to the La Liga title in his second season at the club last term, but exited the UEFA Champions League at the hands of beaten finalists Bayern Munich. Barca meanwhile surrendered their Champions League crown in the last four to winners Chelsea, but Mourinho has no doubt about who the best two teams in the world are.
“What I used to say is that every club in the world (who) goes to the Spanish league would finish third,” Mourinho told ESPN. ”Man City goes there, Manchester United goes there, Chelsea goes there. Who else? They finish third because the two best teams in the world are in the same league, so of course to the others, it is a big difference.”
The rivalry between the two Liga giants is reflected in the battle between their star players, Real’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Barca favourite Lionel Messi. Messi is in contention to win his fourth consecutive Ballon d’Or award, but Mourinho feels his Portuguese forward Ronaldo deserves to win what would his second World Player of the Year accolade.
“For me, the best player of a season must be one that won,” he said. ”What (Ronaldo) did helped the team to win something big, and I do not think in the history of the Ballon D’Or, one players own it without winning a big thing. Without winning the Champions League, without winning the Spanish League, how can Messi be the Ballon d’Or?”
Despite Real’s reported interest in Tottenham star Luka Modric, the club are yet to sign any player in the transfer window, but Mourinho has claimed he is happy with the squad as it stands.
“The team is really full of talent, and we have lots of solutions and we can play in different ways, in different systems, in different philosophies,” he said. ”So what I have in my hands in terms of human capital, human resources is very, very hard.”
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