Ranieri: how I spiked Arsenal’s supremacy

FORMER MANAGER Claudio Ranieri has stoked the flames ahead of Sunday’s Premiership “Judgment Day” by backing Chelsea to pull off a stunning double.

Ranieri, who led the London club to the runner’s-up spot last year domestically and a semi-final place in the Champions League, believes they can go further this time around and claim English and European crowns.

“Chelsea must be one of the favourites for the Champions League because Mourinho has won it before and my players had a good experience last year,” said Ranieri. “It’s possible for them to win the Champions League and the Premiership, why not? Chelsea are very strong. We did a very good job last year putting the foundations in place and they’re continuing to progress.

“I believe they will win the Premiership this season. I’ve never gambled in my life, but if you told me to go to the bookmakers I’d gamble on Chelsea.

“I think football is cyclical. There was the Manchester United cycle, the Arsenal cycle and the Chelsea cycle is coming.”

Last season Arsenal’s unprecedented supremacy left the rest trailing, but Ranieri does know how to beat Arsene Wenger’s team, having achieved the feat in that European quarter-final.

“We knew very well that Arsenal had three top, top players - Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Robert Pires - and we had to stop them playing,” Ranieri added. “I wanted to fight with them face-to-face, not sit back and wait to see what was going to happen. You have to play football against Arsenal - if you sit back and defend they will punish you.

“I knew we’d beat them sooner or later and when I saw the Champions League draw I thought this could be the moment. When they beat us in the league I told Roman Abramovich that the moment would come and eventually I was right.”

Meanwhile, Jose Reyes cannot wait to face Chelsea after admitting his confidence had fallen so low he feared he would be axed by Wenger. The Spaniard’s recent slump in form mirrored Arsenal’s own mini-crisis, and before Tuesday’s 5-1 drubbing of Rosenborg he had not scored for more than two months.

Reyes said: “It had been a long time since I scored and I did need to do something to get confidence and thank God it happened.”

Reyes would probably have been dropped had Freddie Ljungberg not pulled out with a migraine and the Swedish midfielder is doubtful for Sunday’s match with Chelsea.

Wenger said: “doctors tell me it will take two or three days for him to get over it, but it is not sure how he will recover physically.”