UEFA Champions League day 6 – Chelsea 3-1 Sporting Portugal
Coach Mourinho reacts post-game:
‘We played seriously, we were strong and we deserved to win”.
‘The ones who are playing regularly, they faced the game in the right way. Those that don’t always play, they came in very well. When the game was 2-1 there could have been some emotion but when it went to 3-1 the game was over and the better side won.’
‘We have five possible opponents and everyone is hard. People may think Basel is easy but we lost twice against them last year and they beat Liverpool and a few years ago they beat Man United, so I don’t think they are easy. Paris would be good because it is easy for us to travel and the fans to travel, but we can’t decide the draw.
‘I am happy Man City and Arsenal went through because I work in England and I care about the prestige of English football. We have also Liverpool, Tottenham and Everton in the Europa League so I wish them well too.
‘At the same time it is good for us if direct opponents in the Premier League are involved in European competitions. Man United are not, they have the same advantage Liverpool had last year in the Premier League and it is a big advantage.’
‘I’m not speaking about big clubs, I am speaking about big teams and I don’t think any of the big teams are out of the Champions League now except maybe Liverpool. All the teams that want to win the competition are in and season after season you repeat this – there is one team that does badly and goes out but everyone else is in the last 16.
‘So the real Champions League starts now. Last season we were not one of the top four teams for sure but we played in the semi-final. Let’s see what we can do this season step by step.’
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