Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho says he is starting to think it is possible that Leicester can win the Premier League title this season.
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Chelsea qualified for the knock-out stage of the Champions League after beating Porto at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday. With even the top four looking like a distant dream now, manager José Mourinho has himself acknowledged that his team will not be able to defend the league title.
Leicester City’s Algerian forward Riyad Mahrez ruled out his football club winning the English Premier League (EPL) this season, despite leading the table after 15 weeks.
There is an open invitation to be a guest of his former club whenever he chooses and Ranieri added: “Roman has told me that whenever I want to go to Chelsea to watch them, ‘This is your house”.
The Blues did win at the King Power stadium last season, thanks to a 3-1 scoreline courtesy of goals from John Terry, Ramires and Didier Drogba. Take this boast from the Portuguese provocateur’s days at Inter Milan: “I studied Italian five hours a day for many months to ensure I could communicate with players, media and fans”. He was doing so well and showing some great qualities as a manager.
“The reality is that some clubs are doing well and some others are not capable of doing what they are used to”, said Mourinho.
“The fans are being absolutely unbelievable with us”, he said.
But with 14 points separating them from the Champions League qualification places, the manager’s belief that his side are back on track must be justified soon if they are to launch a charge up the table.
Mourinho said that the Blues have no fresh injury concerns coming into the game against the league leaders, meaning that only Radamel Falcao remains unavailable.
“Independent of the Bournemouth defeat, I think in the last couple of months everyone is improving, the team is improving”, Mourinho said.
However, there is still a long way to go before Leicester will be able to achieve such high aspirations and an experienced manager such as Ranieri will be more aware than most regarding this fact. Mourinho then belittled Ranieri, saying he had replaced him at Chelsea because the club considered him to be a “loser”. We are where we are because we are under-performing.
Mourinho was keen to point out that Leicester’s rise and his own team’s demise are two separate things.
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“When I called him to wish him the best, I think in that moment we started a different relationship, but I always had respect for the man”.
