06/08/2016 10:06, Report by James Tuck

JOSE: LEICESTER'S TRIUMPH UNIQUE TO ENGLAND

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho believes Leicester City’s unlikely title triumph last season could only have happened in England’s "special" Premier League.

Mourinho’s side face Claudio Ranieri’s Foxes at Wembley on Sunday in the Community Shield – the traditional curtain-raiser to the season that pits United, as FA Cup winners, against a side who defied all the odds to win their first-ever top-flight crown in 2015/16.

In both his pre-match press conference and exclusive interview with MUTV on Friday, Mourinho spoke at length about Leicester’s success, insisting it was made possible by the unique philosophy of English football.

"This is the only country where everyone wants this to happen – this is the only country where the football structures allow this to happen," the Reds boss said. 

"In other countries, the powerful clubs don’t want to share the money; they don’t want to share the TV rights. They want to be comfortable and know that they are always the top clubs in the Champions League.

"They want the competition to be a competition of two, three or four and if possible just a competition of one. Around Europe, when you listen to people, it sounds like they are the Mother Theresa of football, but they aren’t. 

"They don’t want a league; in this country, everyone wants a league. That allows an amazing story like the Leicester one, which brings even more credibility to the Premier League.

"In this country we want every club to share the amount of money that is on the table. The consequence of this is the high competition we have here, which allows a club like Leicester to be champions. That’s a great achievement for them and also the football organisation of a country that allows a medium-sized club to compete with the big ones."

Mourinho warned that Leicester will face a completely different challenge this term, with the addition of a Champions League campaign to their schedule, but feels they are equipped to deal with it.

"I think it will be a different season for them, but I think they can cope with the situation," he said. They have a new experience, playing in the Champions League, where they’ll have a minimum of six big matches, which changes the profile of their season and their training methodology.