Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has made a surprising claim about the state of English football, despite leaving the Premier League earlier in the summer to rejoin the Spanish capital club. Ancelloti believes that English football is currently ahead of Spanish football, despite leaving his job at Premier League side Everton during the summer to return to his beloved Santiago Bernabeu after the Italian maestro was called back to the Spanish capital for his second spell in charge of the Los Blancos.
Everton were left floundering back in June when Madrid called on Ancelotti to replace Zinedine Zidane at the helm.
Since the Italian boss’ departure, however, the Premier League has been greatly revitalized, going from strength to strength, while, in stark contrast, La Liga’s top clubs have been clogged up in financial woes which became clearly evident in the recent summer transfer market.
In an interview with Spanish station Radio 1, Ancelotti admitted: “English football is ahead right now, that is something that is also talked about in Spain.
“The English play with a higher level of intensity.”
That did not stop the 62-year-old fleeing from Everton, who had top six ambitions of their own.
The LaLiga’s stunning loss of Lionel Messi during the summer came only three years after Cristiano Ronaldo upped and made a beeline for Juventus, leaving the division without the two greatest generational megastars of their era.
“I am living my honeymoon in Madrid and I hope to stay for many years,” claims Ancelotti, who clearly harbors no regrets for his decision despite oozing about the strength of English football.
Regardless, the Toffees have managed to cope fairly well without his incredible wealth of experience as new boss Rafa Benitez has made a positive impact, despite having to work with a meager transfer budget.
Those fighting amongst themselves at the top in the English league are probably the teams Ancelotti is alluding to in his statement about the league’s comparative strength, as Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United are all on fine form and are expected to challenge for the Champions League this season.
Real Madrid could also find themselves in the mix after making it all the way to the final four last campaign.
The seasoned man in the Real dugout was coy when quizzed about his side’s prospects this time round, however.
He said: “I don’t think there will be surprises among the favorites, they are still the same and we’ll see what will happen in March.”