Jose Mourinho accuses Premier League of getting in the way of Champions League glory
In an interview with Sportsmail today, Jose Mourinho spoke at length about his experience in the Champions League and pointed out the many obstacles in the way of Premier League clubs and that particular title. After speaking about his success on the European stage with Porto and Inter Milan, Mourinho was keen to discuss the odds of an English club taking home the title this year.
While neither Mourinho’s present nor former team is in the Champions League this year, he seems to be just as concerned about the other teams, namely Leicester City, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal who kick off their European campaign on Tuesday and Wednesday night and how they will fare despite the demands of their domestic tournaments.
“I think the Premier League and the internal competitions create a very difficult situation for the clubs. Other countries, they care a lot about the Champions League. In this country, the Premier League will always come in front of the Champions League. The institutions that lead the competitions make it very, very clear.”
According to the Portuguese manager, players can hardly take a break from their gruelling schedule because the stakes are so high both at home and in Europe. After crediting the Premier League for being the most competitive he explained how merciless the intensity of the league was for those who participated in Europe’s top competition during the week.
Also read: Chelsea favourites to sign Matteo Darmian
“Here it is more difficult. The intensity of every match is the same. In England, you cannot rest players. If you rest players thinking about Europe then you lose the match in the Premier League.”
He isn’t too impressed with some matches taking place on Friday nights from this season either saying it makes things even harder for players who need ample rest to retain their form and stamina.
“Well now you have a Friday night fixture, so if an English club is in a Champions League semi-final on a Tuesday I would expect that they would be given the Friday fixture to have one more day to rest. But I don't know because until now nobody has had that protection.”
Also read: EPL 2016-17: What we learnt from Matchweek 4
With hardly any time to rest, the United manager feels while it may not be impossible for an English club to win the Champions League, it will certainly be difficult. The last time an English club went to the final, Chelsea won the trophy in 2012.
Even though Mourinho’s side will be absent from Champions League action this year, they still have the Europa League to navigate and he will have to contend with these same concerns of form and lack of protection there once their campaign starts on Thursday.