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| Jose Mourinho (ChelseaFC) |
'We led twice against PSG in this Champions League last 16 second leg, first through Gary Cahill and then, once the match had gone to extra-time, courtesy of an Eden Hazard penalty, but two headers at the Shed End put paid to our Champions League aspirations this season.'
David Luiz late on in normal time got the first and Thiago Silva towards the end of extra-time got the tie-deciding second having given away the spot-kick from which Hazard put us back in front.
Reflecting after the game, Mourinho had no complaints with the final outcome.
'They deserved to win,’ he said. ‘When a team cannot defend two corners and concedes two goals from a corner a team doesn’t deserve to win.
‘We couldn’t cope with the pressure of playing with one player more and playing at home. For me it was a surprise.
‘For them it was easy with 10 men – defensive organisation, two lines of four, Cavani in attack, waiting for the right moment at a corner or from a mistake. Mentally they had nothing to lose. I know that feeling having played with 10 men in the Champions League.
‘They were experienced, they were good. We deserved to be punished.’
Mourinho was asked what emotions he felt
‘I’m disappointed but I always try to be pragmatic. When the opposition was better than us the first feeling is that we deserved to lose.
‘To analyse the situation is the next step. We need to react. We have a Premier League to win. I told that to the players. We lost a competition where even if we had won today we would have had many stages to get through and good teams to beat.
‘We are in a good situation. It’s not time to cry; it’s also not time to laugh. It’s time to analyse what happened.
‘We must come here on Sunday to the same stadium, and the same players have to go on to the pitch and make one more step towards winning the Premier League, because if we win the Premier League and the Capital One Cup it’s still a fantastic season for us.
‘No time to cry. Move on, and look forward.’
It’s a pity we don’t play tomorrow. In football you win, you lose, you have good and bad days, but something I never had was fear or a lack of desire to not be in a match or a competition. I want to play Sunday and from now until then I have to read the situation, feel the players and feel the ones that are ready for that.
‘I repeat we have the most difficult championship in Europe to win. We have 11 matches to play, and we want very much to do that. The only thing we can do about the Champions League now is try to win the Premier League to be in the top [seeding] group next season.
‘That was my message for the players. Don’t cry, don’t smile. See you tomorrow at one o’clock. Let’s go for Sunday.’
‘We couldn’t cope with the pressure of playing with one player more and playing at home. For me it was a surprise.
‘For them it was easy with 10 men – defensive organisation, two lines of four, Cavani in attack, waiting for the right moment at a corner or from a mistake. Mentally they had nothing to lose. I know that feeling having played with 10 men in the Champions League.
‘They were experienced, they were good. We deserved to be punished.’
Mourinho was asked what emotions he felt
‘I’m disappointed but I always try to be pragmatic. When the opposition was better than us the first feeling is that we deserved to lose.
‘To analyse the situation is the next step. We need to react. We have a Premier League to win. I told that to the players. We lost a competition where even if we had won today we would have had many stages to get through and good teams to beat.
‘We are in a good situation. It’s not time to cry; it’s also not time to laugh. It’s time to analyse what happened.
‘We must come here on Sunday to the same stadium, and the same players have to go on to the pitch and make one more step towards winning the Premier League, because if we win the Premier League and the Capital One Cup it’s still a fantastic season for us.
‘No time to cry. Move on, and look forward.’
It’s a pity we don’t play tomorrow. In football you win, you lose, you have good and bad days, but something I never had was fear or a lack of desire to not be in a match or a competition. I want to play Sunday and from now until then I have to read the situation, feel the players and feel the ones that are ready for that.
‘I repeat we have the most difficult championship in Europe to win. We have 11 matches to play, and we want very much to do that. The only thing we can do about the Champions League now is try to win the Premier League to be in the top [seeding] group next season.
‘That was my message for the players. Don’t cry, don’t smile. See you tomorrow at one o’clock. Let’s go for Sunday.’
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