Slavisa Jokanovic saluted Maccabi Tel Aviv for their improvement in the Champions League, despite losing to Chelsea 4-0.
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“I think we played better matches than today, but we lost”.
To be fair, my medical department is really good. John is a special guy, with a special desire to recover.
“We already had one injury on this pitch in training with Ramires”, he told BT Sport.
John Terry could miss Chelsea’s London derby showdown at Tottenham after leaving on a stretcher during his team’s win at Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Oscar made it 3-0 in the 77th from close range as Maccabi’s defensive shield was breached again before Zouma pounced on a corner in the first minute of added time to seal the win.
Chelsea’s confidence was boosted by a win against limited opponents, who were reduced to 10 men when former Chelsea defender Tal Ben Haim was shown a straight red card before half-time for a wild kick at Diego Costa.
It took eight minutes for Chelsea to get their first effort of the night as Cesar Azpilicueta linked up nicely with Oscar but the Spaniard saw his shot fly high and wide of the goal.
The result moved Chelsea to the top of group G but they still need a point in their final group match, against boss Jose Mourinho’s former club Porto at Stamford Bridge on 9 December, to guarantee a place in the knockout stage.
Asked about security arrangements, Mourinho said: “I didn’t speak in a formal way to the squad”.
“John has an ankle injury I think down to the pitch and we don’t know how bad yet”.
“But when I have Hazard with 90 minutes against Norwich [last] Saturday and 70 minutes against Maccabi on a pitch that doesn’t help, and I have Pedro fresh and I see the Maccabi right-back in trouble, exhausted and with cramps”. I was disappointed. I react. “He reacted too but at half-time in the dressing-room, a few kisses, a few cuddles…no problem”.
Despite being down to 10 men, Maccabi got off to a determined start in the second half but they couldn’t threaten Asmir Begovic’s goal.
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“I believe we improved”.
