Ex-Chelsea boss believes England behind Germany, France & Spain in Euro squad strength

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Carlo Ancelotti certainly isn’t going out of his way to endear himself to English football fans, but he does know a good football team when he sees one. The three-time Champions League winner broke down the quality of teams in the upcoming Euro 2016 and was iffy as to whether England was a true threat to his “favourites” in tournament, Germany and France.

Ancelotti explained that while Germany and France are in the top tier, Spain isn’t far behind – but then below them are England and Belgium.

“My favourites for the tournament are Germany and then France, the world champions and the hosts,” Ancelotti said, per Squawka News. “After them you cannot ignore Spain and one tier down you have Belgium and England, two nations with a high quality of young players for whom the challenge is to build a really good team.”

France and Germany are both of the bookmakers’ favourites in the tournament, with France hosting the tournament and Germany the defending FIFA World Cup champions. England, on the other hand, have not won a major tournament since 1966, and have not placed higher than the Semi-Finals since the 1996 European Championship.

Ancelotti has managed clubs in four of the top-five leagues, winning either league titles or Champions League Finals (or both) in stints with Milan, Chelsea, PSG and Real Madrid along the way. After spending a year out of football, he was appointed the new manager of Bayenr Munich to replace Pep Guardiola.

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