Marcana’s own goal in the first half and Willian’s second half strike sealed the deal for the Blues, as Mourinho and his men finish on top of group G and march into the knockout round in the Champions League with a 2-0 win against Porto. Unable to raise the bar this season, Chelsea are being seen as underdogs and, although other teams would like to draw them, Mourinho believes Chelsea can still win the Champions League.
Chelsea, who have been toiling in the league, responded perfectly to an 8th Premier league loss against Bournemouth, with a 2-0 win against Porto that sees the Blues finish on top of group G. Mourinho’s men could face PSG – For the third consecutive season – PSV Eindhoven, Benfica, Juventus, Roma or Gent in the next round.
Chelsea can still win Champions League
Mourinho has twice won Europe’s most prestigious competition and the Portuguese believes Chelsea can still win the Champions League to take everyone by surprise.
“A team struggling so much like we are is not obviously a candidate to win the Champions League,” said Mourinho, twice a winner of the competition as a manager, as reported by skysports.
“But when we won at Porto in 2004, we were not candidates. When we won at Inter (Milan) in 2010, we were not candidates.
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“When we were candidates, we lost two semi-finals with Real Madrid, we lost two semi-finals with Chelsea, so let’s see. You never know.”
Teams want to draw Chelsea
Chelsea might have been one of favorites to win the Champions League at the start of the season, but their recent woes have made them the underdogs going into the round of 16. Understandably, everybody would wants to play the strugglers, rather than drawing the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
“I think everybody wants to play us,” Mourinho added. “They don’t want to play Barcelona, they don’t want to play Real Madrid, they don’t want to play Atletico, they don’t want to play Bayern.
“Every team finishing second want to get us, they want to get Zenit.”
Worst season in Mourinho’s career?
Chelsea’s first league title was in the 1954-55 season and that title defence the following year is one of the worst in history, as the Blues finished 13th in the 1955-56 season.
As unimaginable as it might have seemed at the start of this campaign, it looks possible now, although unlikely, that Chelsea finish below 13th position.
But Mourinho insists Chelsea will finish in the top four, even if they are 14 points adrift of the leaders after 15 games.
Even if that does not happen, winning the Champions League makes it a successful season for the Blues. But Mourinho has to string together five or six wins on the spin to even make sure he is Chelsea’s manager until February when the Champions League commences again.
If he fails to do so, it would probably not be Chelsea’s worst ever season, but it will surely be Mourinho’s worst, and perhaps the first real indelible blot on his remarkable CV.