He added: “They don’t deserve such a hard punishment, they did okay for some periods of the game”.
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Ramires also suffered an injury on the eve of the encounter, ruling the midfielder out of the matchday squad.
Mourinho was also less than impressed by a pitch which he took it upon himself to fix after Cahill’s goal, replacing large divots near his technical area.
“I reacted. He did too”.
‘Ramires slid and has a muscular injury.
The full extent of the injuries is likely to be determined by scans, while Mourinho will have work to do to inspire Diego Costa back to form after the pair’s half-time bust up in Haifa. Plus the warm-up before the game, the pitch was really bad.
The Maccabi pitch was cutting up terribly but it did not stop Chelsea dominate possession around their opponents’ box as Cesc Fabregas tried to dink the ball over the head of Predreg Rajkovic in goal.
“I prefer to think we have to win our match”.
Mourinho was keen to play down the incident and told reporters afterwards that the difference of opinion had been settled “at half-time in the dressing room [when] there were a few kisses and a few cuddles”.
He said: “I think after what I did, I think it was worse”.
Asked about his team’s fixture schedule, Pochettino said: “I laugh”. I hope tranquillity comes, morale comes, confidence comes.
“I know if we win we finish first”, Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho said.
“In the second we slept a bit for the first 15-20 minutes waiting for the second goal to come and only when we were again in danger did we react well”.
The victory, coupled with Dynamo Kiev’s 2-0 win at Porto, means Chelsea only need a draw at home to the Portuguese in two weeks to guarantee their passage to the knockout stage.
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Chelsea won 4-0 at Stamford Bridge, but Mourinho guarded against complacency by reminding his men of last season at Maribor, when the Blues drew in Slovenia after a 6-0 drubbing in London.
