Sir Alex Ferguson has insisted that the English Premier League remains the toughest in the world.
His comments come after some have claimed that La Liga has pushed ahead of the English top flight after Barcelona's easy victory over United in the UEFA Champions League, as well as Real Madrid's summer spending splurge, including the capture of Cristiano Ronaldo from the Red Devils.
But Ferguson does not agree with this, especially given the form of United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal in Europe in recent years.
"Some people have said the power has gone back to Barcelona and Real Madrid. I don't know how they can say that. There is no evidence," said Ferguson, whose side begin their Premier League title defence against Birmingham in a game being shown live on Sky Sports 1 on Sunday.
"Over the years the Premier League has become the most competitive in Europe. I have no doubt in my mind about that.
"Barcelona deservedly won the European Cup last season but if you look over the last four or five years, the English teams have shared the real glory of Europe.
"I still feel the Premier League is the toughest in Europe."
New challengeUnited must adjust to life without Ronaldo but Ferguson, who has built several successful sides in his time at Old Trafford, is relishing the challenge this presents.
"Most of our players expected Cristiano to leave at some point, so it was not such a great shock," he said.
"That is not the problem. The problem is how we progress as a team.
"We will be a different shape and play in a different way to when Cristiano was here.
"That is something I am looking forward to. I am interested in that kind of progress, to see what a different team can do.
"It will be different without Cristiano."
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