Chelsea \'Best Team In The Premier League\' - Atletico Madrid Striker Diego Forlan

Atletico Madrid striker Diego Forlan has declared Chelsea the 'best team in the Premier League', ahead of their Champions League tie tonight.

The former Manchester United forward has flourished in La Liga since his torrid time at Old Trafford, where he infamously took eight months to score his first goal for the club.

Since leaving England, he has enjoyed an amazing goalscoring record, first with Villarreal and now with Atletico - topping the La Liga goal charts with regularity and winning the European Golden Boot twice.

The Spanish side have had their worst start to a season in 15 years and can ill-afford to lose against Chelsea, having yet to win in their Champions League campaign so far.

But Forlan knows getting a result against the Blues will be no easy task, and rates the London club as the best team in the land.

"Chelsea have more quality, are more experienced and are a much bigger threat than they were in my time at United," Forlan said in The Daily Mirror.

"They lost at the weekend [against Aston Villa], but, for me, they are the best team in the Premier League. With the arrival of Ancelotti, he has made them stronger in defence and more dangerous going forward.

"Ancelotti has really motivated players like [Didier] Drogba, [Michael] Ballack and [Nicolas] Anelka. The absence of Drogba for the Champions League makes it difficult for them and is good for us."

The Uruguayan revealed that he still suffers some stick from supporters when he is in England - a legacy of his United days.

"But we are prepared for Stamford Bridge and we know we can cause an upset and hopefully I can score," he said. "I always get a reaction from the English supporters but that only inspires me."

Phillip Wen, Goal.com UK

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