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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
John Cross

Chelsea's Pedro says Euro finals clean-sweep proves English football is now No1

Chelsea winger Pedro can complete a full set of honours by winning the Europa League.

And the former Barcelona star insists that English clubs' clean sweep of representation in the two European finals this week proves that the Premier League is the best in the world.

Pedro helped Barca to five La Liga titles and two Champions Leagues and lifted the Premier League crown with Chelsea , but the Europa League is missing from his CV.

The 31-year-old, who has also won the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 with Spain, played alongside Lionel Messi at Barca during a golden era for the Catalan giants but has no doubt that English football has now overtaken La Liga.

Boss Maurizio Sarri watches Pedro during Chelsea's Tuesday training session in Baku (PA Wire)

Before facing Arsenal on Wednesday here in Baku, Pedro said: “I think the message is clear to the other leagues: the most strong and most competitive league in the world at the moment is the Premier League, for sure.

“It’s good for English teams. It’s a very good thing because every day, every week, you can see that the Premier League is so hard, so competitive. For this reason I think it’s good for England to have four teams in the two European finals.

“It’s a good opportunity for us to win a title and a European trophy. If we win it will make it a good season because we’ll be in the Champions League, we reached the final of the Carabao Cup and if we win this European final then it will be a very good season for us.”

World Cup, Euros, Champions League, Premier League, La Liga, FA Cup and Copa del Rey winner Pedro can tick another box on Wednesday night (Darren Walsh)

Pedro is expecting a very intense match - Chelsea won 3-2 at Stamford Bridge in August before a 2-0 Arsenal victory in January's return - but lamented the absence of a big travelling support from the two sets of fans because of the difficulties in reaching host nation Azerbaijan.

“It will be an open game. Arsenal press really high, play really good football and also for us it’s the same style. For this reason it will be an open game," he said.

“It’s a pity for us because you don’t feel a lot of support from our fans. They are always so important for us and we wish they were there for us. It’s better to give them a lot more tickets and for them to be there.

“For them (Arsenal), it’s a good opportunity to pass to the Champions League. For us, it’s another opportunity to win another European title.”

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