Ancelotti: Barcelona will challenge for Champions League again

Barcelona should be Champions League contender again in 2019-20, according to Napoli coach Carlo Ancelotti.

Napoli head coach Carlo Ancelotti.

Napoli coach Carlo Ancelotti expects Barcelona to contend for a first Champions League title since 2015 after its signings this close season.

The five-time European champion has fallen short in the continent's premier club competition in recent seasons, including an extraordinary semifinal loss to Liverpool in 2018-19.

Ancelotti, whose side faces Barca in a friendly in Florida on Wednesday, feels Ernesto Valverde's men should be contenders once more this season after seeing the likes of Antoine Griezmann and Frenkie de Jong arrive.

"I believe that Barcelona is always a candidate to win the Champions League," he told a news conference.

"It has a player like [Lionel] Messi and many others, so I think they always compete to win the maximum and the maximum is the Champions League.

"I think that with the signings they have done, this year will be very competitive."

Napoli are also looking to move forward after finishing second in Serie A and getting knocked out in the Champions League group stage.

Ancelotti believes LaLiga and the Premier League remain the world's best competitions, but added Serie A is improving.

"At the moment, Italian football is a little below LaLiga and the Premier League, but something is moving," he said.

"Last year Cristiano [Ronaldo] arrived [at Juventus], which is very important for our league. I think in the future Italian football is going to reach the level.

"The stadiums are being renovated and I think that little by little Italy will be better."