Champions League day 4: Chelsea 2-1 Dynamo Kiev
Mourinho is satisfied by his players’ reaction and comments on a very important win in Champions League:
‘To qualify we didn’t need a win so it wasn’t a drama at 1-1,’ said the Blues boss. ‘We knew with a draw that if we win the next two matches we would qualify in second. From a metal point of view it was important to have a reaction to a negative moment. In other matches we’ve had good periods and played well, but when the negative moment arrived the team felt it too much and it was difficult to emerge again.
‘Today it was perfect because we conceded a goal with 15 minutes to go and the team emerged. They knew a draw would be acceptable but they wanted to win. To have people like Hazard and Pedro on the bench helps the morale of the team because they know they can change the type of game we were playing, because with Oscar and Willian as wingers it’s a certain kind of football, with Pedro and Hazard it’s different.
‘To win after conceding with 10-15 minutes to go was important. It’s something I spoke with the players a lot about in the last two or three days, saying when the difficult moment arrives, face it, don’t be affected, keep the belief and they were fantastic.
‘Now we can still finish first, which isn’t the most important thing. The most important thing is to finish second (and qualify) but we can still finish first.’
‘I have to say Dynamo are a very good team. I already told Rebrov and Sheva because they were here together. This Dynamo is much better than the one I played with Inter in 2010. In the last 10 years you look at Russian and Ukraine and you don’t think the teams are very good but it’s changing.
‘To beat them is difficult. I knew it would be difficult to score and they are good on the counter attack. They have five giants from set-pieces and it’s difficult to control them. I knew the risks but in the first half we were very good and we deserved a different result. In the last part of the game the normal tendency is that if the game went on for another five or 10 minutes we would score more goals because the game was open. I hope they go to the Europa League, which would mean we go to the Champions League last 16, because their team in the Europa League will be a real contender.’
