Arsene Wenger has amazingly claimed that winning the Champions
League is an "overrated" achievement.
The Arsenal boss - who has never won European football's most
prestigious club trophy - believes it is a far greater achievement
winning the Premier League instead.
The Gunners head for Romania to take on Steaua Bucharest on Tuesday
with Wenger playing down the significance of the competition.
"It is overrated," said Wenger. "It is a cup, it is not a
championship - how many games do you need to win?
"If it was a European championship over 38 games then it would be
different and you can say the team who wins that is really the best
in Europe. Were AC Milan the best team in Europe last season? I'm
not convinced.
"I think it is harder to win the Premier League than the Champions
League because you do not have to win as many games to be crowned
champions of Europe."
Wenger insisted it does not worry him that, unlike managers such as
Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, Rafa Benitez at Liverpool
and former Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho who won it at Porto, he does
not have the Champions League trophy on his CV. He said: "I want to
achieve it because I want this club to win it, but for my ego it is
less important. I judge a manager on what he has achieved in his
whole career, not on this one trophy.
"I am not saying I wasn't interested in that glory 10 years ago,
but I am much less so now. When you are very young you want to win
it to say: 'I am the best'. But when you have more experience you
know you can be the best one day and less good the next, it is all
a game.
"I want to achieve it for the players and the club but less so for
myself to say: 'Look how good I am'. Your ego is less when more
experienced."
