Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho says La Liga is better than Premier League, and defends PSG spending following £45m Lucas Moura transfer
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Calling La Liga the top league in the world, Jose Mourinho predicts a more competitive season as Real Madrid defends their title and Barcelona try to regain the crown.
Los Blancos set Spanish records with 100 points and 121 goals last season, winning by nine points and ending the Catalans' streak of three straight titles.
"I don't think the champion will reach 100 points," the Real Madrid coach said on Wednesday after a 5-1 win over Milan at Yankee Stadium. "I don't think the champion will score 120 goals. These are numbers to stay in the history for a long time. I don't think we can do it or Barcelona will do it."
Calling Real Madrid and Barcelona "the two best teams in the world," Mourinho said La Liga was now better than England's Premier League — where he led Chelsea to consecutive league titles in 2005 and 2006.
"The league is very, very strong," he said of Spain. "A beautiful league, because the teams are very technical, and that's the reason I'm in Spain, because I want to be where the best league is."
Real Madrid haven't made any major moves this summer but have been negotiating with Tottenham to acquire Luka Modric and talking about selling Kaka back to AC Milan, who sent him to Spain three years ago for 65 million euros.
"Our squad is strong. It's good. It's young. And we feel no needs," Mourinho said.
Paris Saint-Germain has taken over as European football's big spender, buying forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic and defender Thiago Silva from Milan, forward Ezequiel Lavezzi from Napoli, midfielder Lucas Moura from Sao Paulo and midfielder Marco Verratti from Pescara, all with funds from their new owner, the Qatar Investment Authority.
After he was outbid for Lucas on Wednesday, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson criticised the spending spree, telling his team's website "when somebody's paying 45 million euros ($56 million) for a 19-year-old boy, you have to say the game's gone mad."
Not so, Mourinho maintained.
"You pay 40 million (euros) to a club, that club is going to spend this 40 million buying two or three players from smaller clubs. The smaller clubs get the money, so somebody has to make the circles go around," he said. "UEFA is working on what they call the financial fair play, which will be good for a club like Real Madrid because Real Madrid is economically very powerful but doesn't depend on money not produced by the club. The club by itself produces that money, so Real Madrid will be in a much better position when the financial fair play comes."
UEFA, European football's governing body, is phasing in rules that require teams not to spend more than they earn.
Mourinho appeared to criticise Malaga, who qualified for the Champions League playoffs with a fourth-place finish but now are selling off players such as Santi Cazorla as members of the team complain they haven't been paid.
"When you buy and you owe, for me that's the problem — when you go to big projects and you sign some big players and after that you don't pay to the players, you don't pay to the clubs," he said
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments