Villarreal midfielder Robert Pires admits the Premiership is a stronger competition than the Spanish Liga.

“At this time the English League is stronger than the Spanish, because the English have three teams ranked in the Champions League and there could be a fourth,” said the former Arsenal star.

“Spain has only Barcelona still there and must now accept that the Premiership is the most powerful. In England, the football is very strong physically, they work a lot in training and the pace of games is much higher.”

Pires continued: “In a Premiership match, the play never stops. It’s all-out attack for the entire game. At this time one must say that their league is now the strongest.”