West Ham United manager Gianfranco Zola has said that Arsenal is a better footballing team than Chelsea.

Zola, who played as a striker for Chelsea from 1996 to 2003, said that Arsenal is even on par with their Champions League quarterfinal opponents Barcelona, widely considered as the best team in Europe.

"When we played Chelsea last week they probably didn't play with the same quality or intensity as Arsenal. Arsenal are terrible, if you leave them a little bit of space because they punish you," The Mirror quoted Zola, as saying.

"Arsenal, along with Barcelona, are the team who are playing the best football in Europe probably. They are very good to watch. Whether they are going to be able to do that until the end I don't know. That is the question that everybody is asking," he added.

He further said that his team did provide tough competition to Arsenal despite the 2-0 defeat in the Premier League tie.

"Arsenal played some good football, but there were some moments when we matched them completely," he added.

Zola also believes that battle for the Premier League title will be a long one, and leaders Manchester United will have to fight it out with Arsenal and Chelsea.

"They will be in contention until the end that is for sure," Zola added. (ANI)