Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho believes it is very difficult for Premier League clubs to win Champions League as the Premier League is damaging the chances of clubs in Europe’s elite league.
The Champions League is set to kick-start today with Arsenal and Manchester City will start their campaigns today while Leicester City and Tottenham will start their campaigns tomorrow.
Jose Mourinho who have won Champions League with Porto in 2004, Inter Milan in 2010 believes that the English teams that are participating in the Champions League should be given additional time by Premier League to recover in order to make better progress in the elite competition.
The English teams were heavily criticized for their poor performances in the Champions League despite their huge spending in the transfer market every year. Chelsea were the last Premier League club to reach a Champions League final in 2012 while only two teams have managed to reach semi-finals in the last four Champions League campaigns.
Chelsea in 2013-14 and Manchester City last season are the only Premier League teams to reach the semi-finals over the last four years.
Mourinho told the Daily Mail: “The Premier League and the internal competitions create a very difficult situation for the clubs.
“Other countries care a lot about the Champions League. In this country, the Premier League will always come in front. The institutions that lead the competitions make it very clear.
“The institutions do not give you that little protection which can be crucial – 24 hours more, 48 hours more, to rest and prepare.”
“Now you have a Friday night fixture, so if an English club is in an [important] Champions League [game] on a Tuesday I’d 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.”
Meanwhile, Jose Mourinho is set to lead his Manchester United team in Europa League this season as the team has failed to manage top-4 finish under Louis van Gaal last season. The Red Devils will kick-start their campaign against Dutch club Feyenoord, on Thursday.