Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has blamed the club’s Champion’s League defeat against Porto on some ‘ridiculous moments’ as the Blues suffered their fifth loss of the season in all competitions.
Chelsea went behind to a Bras Andre goal after 38 minutes in the match against Mourinho’s former club before Willian brought them level with a superbly struck free kick just before half time. The Blues were beaten 2-1, though, when Maicon headed the Portuguese outfit in front after seven minutes of the second half.
Mourinho said, “We watch dozens and dozens of repetitions of Porto taking corners. We were completely ready for that… When the game is under control we concede a goal that is ridiculous”. The defeat means that, despite beating Maccabi Tel Aviv 4-0 in the opening game of group G, Chelsea are third in the table behind Porto and Dynamo Kiev.
With Chelsea also sitting fifteenth in the Premier League it is not the first time this season that Mourinho has felt that luck has gone against the defending Premier League champions. He said, “They hit the post from a similar mistake. Apart from that the game was balanced. Two ridiculous moments and we were punished”.
In the aftermath of Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with Newcastle in the league last weekend Mourinho said that the Blues were worthy of ‘minus one out of ten’ for their first half performance. After the match in Portugal, however, he was glad to have seen some form of response from his players. He said, “The team played well and there were good reactions from the goals we conceded. We had chances to equalise and had desire. When you feel everything is going against you it is disappointing. The team tried until the end so I have nothing to say against them”.
The Portuguese maestro also denied that there are any problems between him and his players, despite the fact that last year’s PFA Player Of The Year Eden Hazard was dropped to the bench in the game. He said, “I have no problems with anyone and have a fantastic relationship with everyone”. He also played down the importance of the loss, making clear that he feels Chelsea are still in an excellent position to make it through to the knockout stages of the competition. He said, “We are third in this moment with three points and have another difficult match against Dynamo Kiev coming up. We have matches at home and we think we can qualify”.