Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has dismissed Alex Ferguson's claim that Manchester United are the best team in England.
Ferguson, whose side were knocked out of the Champions League semifinals by Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday, had been quoted as saying: "We are still the best team in England.
"We've scored more goals than anyone in England and we've been the best team since Christmas."
But Wenger, whose men are riding high at the top of the Premiership and who face Chelsea in Saturday's FA Cup final in Cardiff, disputed the statement.
"In the Champions League, I would agree with that," he told reporters at their training ground on Wednesday. "They were the only team in the semi-finals."
But the Frenchman added: "In the championship and the FA Cup it was Arsenal, because we are in the FA Cup final and we are five points clear.
"Only at the end of the season, when you see who is first in the championship, can you say who's the best team in England. And I believe it will be us."
However, Wenger was sympathetic to the United cause in Europe, which ended with their 1-1 draw at Leverkusen, who had earlier beaten Arsenal to a place in the quarter-finals.
"It looked to me that when they (United) scored the first goal they were very close to scoring a second one," Wenger said.
"They were unlucky in the first half because they had two or three occasions really to kill the game off. Leverkusen were lucky to come back in the final minute of the first half."