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Arsene Wenger: Real Madrid And Barcelona Are Above The Rest In Europe - European Football (EPL, UEFA, La Liga) - Nairaland

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Arsene Wenger: Real Madrid And Barcelona Are Above The Rest In Europe by galatico(m): 3:17pm On Sep 14, 2011
The French manager believes the Spanish duo's spending power gives the clubs the edge over the likes of his team, but he predicts there will soon be a "massive" financial crisis.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger insists that the financial muscle that Real Madrid and Barcelona - along with Premier League teams Chelsea and Manchester City - possess puts them a cut above the rest of the clubs in Europe.

Everyone else is playing catch up, including his London club.

"I believe that this season, I see two teams that are above the rest – Real Madrid and Barcelona – and the rest have to catch up during the season," Wenger said.

"Barca and Real Madrid have much more financial power than they had 14 years ago because they have individualized their TV rights. So they, at the moment, with teams like Man City and Chelsea, can take who they want," he added.

Wenger was speaking ahead of the curtain raiser for his side's Champions League campaign against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday. Arsenal is in its 14th season in the Champions League group phase and Wenger has noticed changes in the league, particularly with the competition in the Premier League becoming better each year.

"It is as difficult to win the Champions League because a team that wins the Premier League is in the Champions League final almost every year," Wenger said.

Wenger predicts that a "massive crisis" is going to take place in the future, which will eventually affect football revenue, and insists that the sport is not "untouchable". He points out that the first signs of resistance have been shown in Spain, where teams and fans complain about La Liga being nothing more than a two-team race.

"I believe that Europe overall, as a unit, is going towards a massive crisis, which nobody really expects now. I am convinced that Europe will go into a huge financial crisis within the next three weeks or three months and maybe that will put everything into perspective again.

"Football is not untouchable. We live with people going to the stadiums as well and from advertising from people who buy products. All our income could be a little bit under threat in the next few months. Football is not only about money. We believe in ourselves that we can compete with them but it's as simple as this."

The former Monaco boss also admitted that it is too early for the Gunners to think about winning the Champions League, as the club first need to prove its mettle following the arrival of a few new faces.

At the transfer deadline less than two weeks ago, Arsenal added Per Mertesacker, Andre Santos, Park Chu-Young, Mikel Arteta and Yossi Benayoun.

"We are full of hope but I understand why people raise that question [about Arsenal not being equipped well enough to win the Champions League]," Wenger said. "We have not had a particularly strong start in the league. We have had five players coming in and nobody knows how good they will be."


[b][b]http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/85/england/2011/09/13/2663881/arsenal-boss-arsene-wenger-real-madrid-and-barcelona-are[/b][/b]

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