Chelsea has three points and Maccabi Tel Aviv none.
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Goals from Andre Andre and Maicon cancelled out an excellent Willian free-kick as Chelsea succumbed to defeat in the Champions League on Mourinho’s return to Porto. It all adds up to it being hard for the Premier League teams.
“It was a performance with two ridiculous mistakes”.
Mourinho told Chelsea TV: “We finish the group with Porto at Stamford Bridge”. “We had another similar mistake (from a corner) when they hit the post”.
Liverpool manager Rodgers feels that the competitive nature of the Premier League can wear teams out ahead of big European games, but he also feels that the league’s management could do more to schedule fixtures to help English clubs. In 24 group games last season, England’s finest lost only six games.
The Premier League is guaranteed four teams in the 2016/17 Champions League but with their clubs’ UEFA co-efficient score dropping fast there is a growing danger that they will lose a place to Italy for the 2017/18 campaign.
Mourinho praised his players’ reaction, with Ivanovic going close and Diego Costa hitting the bar and also appealing for a penalty for handball against Ivan Marcano.
They weren’t exactly terrible against Jose Mourinho’s former side, in fact they played pretty well, save a few costly mistakes.
“In situations like this when the ship needs steering a little bit on the pitch when the manager can’t be the man on the pitch I think he is someone this team has always looked to”.
Eden Hazard and Nemanja Matic joined captain John Terry on the substitutes’ bench, while Loic Remy, Radamel Falcao and Oscar did not even travel to Portugal.
They are struggling in Europe as well with a 1-2 loss to FC Porto on Tuesday night putting their chances of advancing from the Champions League’s Group G under a cloud and le Saux reckons that Chelsea are on the worst run Mourinho has ever suffered in his managerial career.
However, he admitted recent results were not helping when it comes to naming his starting line-up. You had the [Didier] Drogbas, the Terrys and the [Frank] Lampards who other players could look to, and they would turn around and say, ‘Listen, I’ve been here before, don’t worry, follow me, we’ll be alright and get through this and weather the storm’. “The big mistakes we made twice doesn’t mean that the team defended badly”.
“When you play a disaster, it’s easy to make drastic decisions”. The players need self-esteem and to feel good to be able to play.
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“That was our best performance of the season“, said Porto coach Julen Lopetegui after seeing his side take 22 shots on goal, six of which found the target. This three points are totally deserved. “It doesn’t mean anything more than that in terms of numbers”, said the Spaniard.
