Mourinho - Best team won

Inter boss believes his side were superior to Blues

Last updated: 17th March 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

I think everything was superior. I don't think it was tactics, it was attitude on the pitch.

Jose Mourinho.
Quotes of the week

Related links

Teams

Also see

Jose Mourinho believed his Inter Milan side fully deserved their victory over former club Chelsea to progress into the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League.

The Italian champions were leading 2-1 after the first leg of their last-16 tie and sealed their victory thanks to a 79th-minute strike by Samuel Eto'o.

Mourinho felt his side were better than Chelsea in every aspect on the night, while acknowledging the Blues are a 'great team'.

He told Sky Sports: "I think everything was superior. I don't think it was tactics, it was attitude on the pitch.

Frustration

"They (Chelsea) had reactions of frustration, of a team that felt the opposition was superior. Our team started the second half in an incredible way.

"We were the best team by far. Chelsea is a great team, we know that and we came here knowing very well the way they play. We knew that if you don't control the game by having the ball you have no chance.

"Every player performed at the highest level to win here, this must be almost a perfect performance. We deserve so much this victory, we were the best team."

The Portuguese's public celebrations were muted as he disappeared quietly down the tunnel just as the referee blew for full-time, but he admitted he did allow himself to enjoy the result behind closed doors.

Big victory

He added: "I celebrated a lot in the dressing room when the game was over. It was a big victory for my team.

"As I have said before, I am a professional, I love Chelsea, I love this stadium, I love these people but I am a professional.

"Who knows, in the future I may coach another English team and I will come here (again) as an opponent."

Asked how his team might now fare in the Champions League, Mourinho replied: "I learned that we can beat anyone because Chelsea is not just anyone - they are one of the best.

"We can win at any stadium, but there are eight good teams (left) in the competition, and we could lose against anyone too."

Comments (32)

  • Page 1 of 2
  • 1
  • 2

Paul Byron says...

First and foremost Mourinho's tactics aswell as his understanding of the mentaltility of his former players were top draw. Lucio and Motta never took a backward step from Drogba and intimidated him at every opportunity, conseqeuntly ending in his demise. The other comment i would like to make is regarding Sky sports pundits, if they cannot remain objective and hide their personel animosity towards certain individuals then they should not be included. I refer to Graham Souness's comments after the match, whereby his distain for Mourinho was so apparant. He tried to deflect all praise from the coach towards the players. I wonder if he would of done the same if Sir Alex Ferguson had masterplanned the downfall of Chelsea in such a way?

Posted 10:03 17th March 2010

Isaac Nolan says...

Jose is the special one who never won the champions league with chelsea, never got to a final with chelsea and as soon as Manchester united took the league title back he was out of there. People can place it all on Roman but dont be daft. Once he falls he moves on to another club.

Posted 09:30 17th March 2010

Robert Whyte (Manchester United fan) says...

Chelsea must regret the day they let Mourinho go! I know he was opinionated and cocky, but he was great entertainment and only got under your skin if you let him. The EPL has been a duller place for his absence.

Posted 09:20 17th March 2010

Titiloye Oyebanji (Arsenal fan) says...

Yes! Mourinho was right with his modest assessment- the best team won.The game was won right from the first leg. I saw physical and tactical strategies applied by the self-acclaimed 'special one' and it paid a tremendous dividend. Chelsea planned to score a goal at home so as to go through on away goal rule having gotten one at San Siro. They surged forward most of the time, exposing the back four to counter attack. You cant play a team like Inter and toy with a speed-star striker like E'too. The goals would have been more, but credit must go Chelsea's third choice goalkeeper for performing excellently well. Overall, Inter's commitment, determination and performance were conspicuously superior than that of Chelsea. In the build-up to that match, Mourinho boasted he had never lost at Stamford Bridge, and he proved once again. The best team actually won the match.

Posted 09:19 17th March 2010

Steve Wright (Chelsea fan) says...

NO sour grapes.......inter won chelsea obviously didnt.without essien and cole,we had predictable attacking options.i said before the start of the season and im even more convinced now......our owner wanted attacking football,and imports a manager from the most dour league in europe.say no more.....ps....inter were not all that much better last night and whoever gets them in fridays draw will easily make the semi finals.

Posted 08:57 17th March 2010

Shima kennedy Iornem (Manchester United fan) says...

Anceloti got his tactics wrong. He would have choked his midfield from the start. He would have been patient in taking the game to Inter-milan. Then worst still he gave the match away when he pulled out Ballack. That was when Inter won the game. Inter had the luxury to now move the ball around the midfield without any obstruction. Anceloti lost due to tactical blunders.

Posted 08:11 17th March 2010

Darren Mc (Chelsea fan) says...

We lost and deserved it over the 2 legs. inter were the better side and to go to the bridge and perform how they did, well not many teams can do it. the one annoyance for me was the penalty misses by the ref, i can take losing to the better side but when a player is rugby tackled in the box that is a clear penalty and it creates controversy after the game. like andy gray (who usually speaks out of his a**e) said something needs to be done about this part of defending both in the prem and champions league

Posted 08:08 17th March 2010

Barry Dudbridge says...

l noticed once again nothing is mentioned about JOHN TERRY and his bad defending! Ball over his head leaving Eto'o with an open goal in the first half that he should have buried! badly positioned several times from corners marking no one,and again at fault for Eto'os goal! when will people wake up to this blokes liability at the back against quick players...the problem for England is we are very short on central defenders also Upton and Lescott are no where near good enough.Hopefully Brown,Ashley Cole will be fit and l still think Gary Neville should be taken to S/A if he keeps the form he is delivering at the mo! Although lm not a fan of Dawson of Tottenham he would be a better option than UPTON or LESCOTT

Posted 07:34 17th March 2010

Selwyn Govender (Tottenham Hotspur fan) says...

I am really glad for Jose Mourinho. He deserved this. Before him, in recent years, Inter Milan failed many times to pass this hurdle - Great manager, with a Great attitude. Can take any team to new heights.

Posted 07:31 17th March 2010

Andrew Ochiltree (West Ham United fan) says...

Inter Milan can win the champions league. Its very well balanced and Wesley Sneijder looks as good as anyone at the moment. Chelsea once again missed Essien. Essien is the teams main player. Forget Lampard, Mikel, Drogba.. Chelsea are 100% stronger with Essien as he gives them more mobility in midfield. Their midfield is slow without him and this lost them the game tonight as well as Mourinho using wingers to stop ivanovic and zhirkov going forward so much.

Posted 07:24 17th March 2010

Prathamesh Dalvi says...

I think Jose is spot on. Inter were better team.They kept the ball very well,created more(and better) chances.They did not lose their shape throughout the game. Chelsea on the other hand, were too narrow and never really got going.

Posted 06:58 17th March 2010

Andrew Chikabadwa (Chelsea fan) says...

It's true that our midfield lacks creativity and we did not utilise our chances in first half. But we need to give CARLO achance so that he can build a good team.

Posted 06:02 17th March 2010

Frank Barry (Chelsea fan) says...

Jose is kind saying that it wasn't tactics.It was.Add Ancelloti's penchant for just picking the big names,even if they are way past it and the result alas was clear for all to see. Inter have a great defence but in the first leg the combination of Ivanovitch and Kalou on the right clearly troubled them. We should have kept that combination with Zhirkov at left back and Malouda in front of him. Lampard and Obi to complete the midfield with Anelka and Drogba upfront. That way we would have given Inter a lot more to think about. As it was Inter had more possession than Chelsea. A triumph then for Jose and good luck to him. Roman should be reflecting on the day his ego impeded the functioning of his brain!

Posted 05:49 17th March 2010

Homzie D (Manchester United fan) says...

This could turn out to be a blessing in disguise as Chelsea will have no European distractions which Man Utd and Arsenal have. However, they are still in the F.A. Cup which may be their priority. Inter played brilliantly but Chelsea should have taken their chances. The season starts now. Any of the 3 can still win the Premiership title. As for Europe, I hope it is a Man Utd v Arsenal final in Madrid, unless, Platini has other ideas!!! The ref was a disgrace, there were 2 clear pens which he didn't give. Why must it happen to English teams??? It is becoming a habit now, bad decisions against English clubs in Europe! How is it that other big European clubs don't get bad decisions against them?

Posted 03:58 17th March 2010

Amogh Prasad says...

Congrats to Inter. The team Jose put out was the very similiar to the Chelsea team that beat Barcelona 4-3 at Stamford Bridge. After a successful start Ancellotti has gone back to 4-3-3 when the christmas tree or the diamond was working a treat for us. The players lacked speed, motivation, drive and hunger to succeed yesterday. Looked like Ancellotti was not ready. he should have known , the players should have known hoe Jose would react and they did not do anything. The team looked bereft of ideas apart from Malouda. A very sad display. The team needs a re buliding otherwise Ancellotti will turn Chelsea into another AC Milan.

Posted 03:29 17th March 2010

Andy Mooney (Falkirk fan) says...

I think Chelsea were shown up for what they are. Vastly overated!!! How does Ballack manage to get a game every week. Terry is also one of most if not the most overated players in the world. The guy is a lump of wood who cheats and dives as much as any Italian!! You could feel sympathy for chelsea with some of the inter play acting, but, only if the chelsea players didn't do so much themselves. Good riddence.

Posted 03:27 17th March 2010

Ryan Cowling says...

This match was painful to watch. There were two aspects that had the Chelsea support fuming here in Canada. First off, Chelsea played a boring game. We were slow all over the pitch and it seemed as though our headers were off the mark more times than not. Secondly, Eto'o and Millito might as well have spent the entire game rolling about on the pitch. The slightest touch had them wailing and it didn't help that the ref seemed to side with Inter nine times out of ten. The red to Drogba was simply ridiculous. The man had been elbowed in the face at the touch line without so much as a whistle! Dreadful challenges the whole game through. We all had confidence that there'd be some white-shirts sent off before full-time but the ref said otherwise. All in all, we were off our game, but so was this card-happy referee.

Posted 02:22 17th March 2010

Omer Adhia (Chelsea fan) says...

Well played Inter. Chelsea needs to re work the mid field. We were too slow, and there was lack of imagination. Even Joe Cole was disappointing. With a younger mid fielder in place of Ballack and with Essien back in place of Mikel , I think Chelsea will be a force in the next CL season.

Posted 02:05 17th March 2010

Alan Gray (Chelsea fan) says...

Fully deserved, there is no way did we deserved to go through... Congrats to Inter. Another frustrating European game at the Bridge. We need to get rid of Drogba(I honestly don't care if he scores 100 goals this season) and a few other older players i.e. Ballack and bring in some new young blood, but that probably won't happen if Ancelotti stays. As for Mourinho, I'm glad he left Chelsea but Drogba stayed, which I'm not happy about at all. He is a terrible football player... so what if he scores goals? He has an awful touch, is not a team player and always loses his cool.

Posted 01:55 17th March 2010

Brian Fernandes (Manchester United fan) says...

I have just one thing to say. I thought Mourinho's move to play Eto on the left @ 75 mins was unbelievable. Eto played on th right earlier and missed several opportunities. When Eto started playing on the left he scored an amazing goal on 79 mins. Simply brilliant move by Mourinho. Great tactician.

Posted 01:55 17th March 2010
  • Page 1 of 2
  • 1
  • 2

Add Comment*

Send us your views

Are you a Sky Sports subscriber?

*All fields required, your email address will be kept private