Alvaro Arbeloa has defended Jose Mourinho and said that the former Real Madrid manager did not get the credit he deserved during his time at the La Liga club.

Mourinho led Real to the La Liga title at a time when Barcelona were generally considered to be one of the greatest ever teams under the management of Pep Guardiola, and Arbeloa believes that the current Chelsea boss was unappreciated.

"What nobody seems to take into account about the time Mourinho spent here is that if he hadn't come to Madrid when he did Pep would have kept winning with Barcelona," the Real defender told reporters.

"We were up against one of the best teams in history. Guardiola could have been at Barcelona for 25 years, like Ferguson at United. He was perfect for the club. But Mourinho managed to drag them back down. He never got the credit he deserved for that."

Having won the title last season, Mourinho's current Chelsea team are now struggling near the bottom of the Premier League and this afternoon suffered defeat to Liverpool.