Antonio Conte's chances of defending the Premier League title took a knock at the weekend when his side lost to Manchester City and the Italian believes the title is easier to defend in his homeland than England.
It's no secret that defending a title is far more difficult than winning it in the first place, in the history of the Premier League only Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho have managed to the feat.
Defending the Champions League is even rarer with Real Madrid finally breaking the drought back in June when their victory over Juventus followed the win over Atletico Madrid a year prior.
Madrid's defence of the Champions League was as historical as it was brilliant. Image: PA
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Between 2012 and 2014 Chelsea boss Antonio Conte proved that he's able to defend a title not once but twice as his Juventus side won three Serie A titles in a row.
His chances of doing that with Chelsea in the Premier League became a bit harder over the weekend and speaking after the match he explained why it's more difficult to do it in England saying:
"It is very difficult for every team in this league. To defend, it is very difficult to win two titles in a row.
"We won the title with Juventus and I was expecting a really strong challenge from AC Milan, but instead they sold Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva to Paris St Germain, so they became weaker. It wasn't simple second time, but it was easier.
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"Here, from last season to this season, you have big teams and now they are bigger... And now after I think a great transfer market, they have improved a lot. It's not simple to play this league."
Saturday's loss to Manchester City was a blow to Conte. Image: PA
In short because the competition in England can spend similar or more money than Chelsea it makes life more difficult than Italy where his side's closest rivals had to sell their best two players.
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The Blues have already dropped points in three games this season with their loss to City being preceded by an opening day loss at home to Burnley and a draw with Arsenal a few weeks ago.
Meanwhile in Manchester the two biggest threats to Chelsea's title reign have only dropped two points each with City drawing with Everton and United dropping points with Stoke.
Will Conte become the third man to defend the title?
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Chelsea, Premier League, Juventus, Antonio Conte