Mourinho ute efter revansch
Två säsonger i rad har Chelsea nått semifinal i Champions League. I år hoppas man nå längre. Men vägen är lång. Det påpekade José Mourinho inför matchen mot Anderlecht.
Här följer några oöversatta citat inför säsongens första Champions League-match.
Om chanserna att vinna Champions League:
“We can win the Champions League this season, but I was writing my notes the other day and found ten teams who could win it. Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea, Real Madrid and Barcelona, Inter Milan, AC Milan and Juventus and Bayern Munich. Ten teams can win it, so can we say that nine teams failed? I don’t think so. It’s the greatest competition in the world of club football and only one team can win it. And if we look at the last two seasons, Liverpool were not one of the candidates and Porto were not one of the candidates. So there are ten big hats and then the also-rans.”
Om lottningen och möjligheterna:
“Chelsea has two consecutive Champions League semi-finals, and we want the next step, and the next step is the Final. But I think we were not lucky in the Group. The third and the fourth seeds, we were not lucky. There’s a lot of teams without experience, the team from Bratislava, the Swiss team, and we have a very good Spanish side and Anderlecht with years of experience at this level. I think it’s a dangerous Group. We need the three points."
Om Champions League jämfört med VM:
“In the coaches meeting in Geneva we all agree the best competition in terms of football quality is the Champions League, not the World Cup, especially when we go to the last part of the competition. It is the highest quality in modern football. That is not a criticism. That is normal. In clubs when you feel you have a weakness you try all around the world to get a solution for that role. In national teams you cannot do that, unless you are Portugal and you get Deco!!”
Om kvällens motståndare:
“I think yes they have an attacking philosophy, but I believe it is a philosophy adapted to their reality in Belgium where they are one of the big teams fighting for the Championship. The Champions League is another competition. First match away from home, I’m not waiting for them to come here and play an open game. I think they will come in a more defensive way. But they have potential, they have experienced players in midfield, Goor Zetterberg, and good players in attack. The team is well organised, they know what they are doing on the pitch, they have good players. I like their team. I show my players. I don’t show 90 minutes I show different matches, points I think are important.”
Om sitt eget uppträdande mot bakgrund av bråket med Uefa:
“What I did was consequence of what happened, so if the competition is absolutely normal, with nothing strange, I would love that and love to be a good boy and behave well. But if something strange happens, I have to do what I have to do. The good thing is the last season is over, I’m not suspended, I have no regrets, I don’t look at people with bad eyes, I think they look to me as one more manager, or maybe not, maybe as one of the privileged guys who had the Champions League in his hands, and we can start a new competition.”
Om snacket att Frank Lampard behöver vila:
“No chance, he is playing well for me. I have to judge players on their performance with Chelsea. I am happy with his performance. Sometimes people think he should be the man of the match every game. I don’t think that. I just think every game he has to give a good contribution to the team, and he is doing that. At the beginning of the season he is not tired, he doesn’t need a rest, and he will play.”
Om biljettförsäljningen som pekar på att det inte blir utsålt mot Anderlecht:
“Good. If we don’t fill the ground it is because the people prefer the Premiership, and it takes pressure off me — I have only to win the Premiership.”
