Mourinho said after the game that he has no problems with Costa, despite reports to the contrary.
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Understandably, the breakthrough inspired the hosts who began to show signs of the scintillating form which saw them claim the Premier League title last season. In managing to overcome the gritty Greeks, Arsenal completed a remarkable comeback, after they lost their first two group encounters.
Having come off the bench during the 1-0 weekend defeat to Bournemouth, he was restored to the starting line-up against Porto and forced the opening goal as his attempt deflected in off Ivan Marcano, before Willian clinched victory in the second half.
Neutral supporters across the world would have held up the evening’s Group B proceedings as a shining example of the magic and joy of the Champions League, and why the excitement of sport has no equivalent in cultural entertainment.
“When we were candidates with Real Madrid we lost two semi-finals and the same with Chelsea, so you never know”.
Worst season in Mourinho’s career?
“A team struggling so much like we are is not obviously a candidate to win the Champions League”, he said.
The pair worked together at Real Madrid between 2010 and 2013 but their relationship turned sour during Mourinho’s final season at the club.
A year ago, Chelsea were running away with the league while Leicester City were looking a certainty to return to the Championship.
“The thing that I’m most happy with, apart from the result, is the fact we needed a point to qualify and the players accepted the challenge of playing to win”, Mourinho said after the game. But he played well against Porto and he needs to continue. They were courageous to accept that challenge. “The Premier League is very important for us”.
In the six seasons since then, England has had only two of 12 finalists, with one victor and one runner-up.
The Blues will learn their next opponents after Monday’s draw and could face either Paris St Germain, PSV Eindhoven, Benfica, Juventus, Roma or Gent.
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The Blues can not be drawn with Dynamo Kiev again at this stage of the competition as they qualified from the same group, or Arsenal because they are from the same domestic association. Messi opened the scoring for Barcelona and Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez equalised for Bayer, but the home side couldn’t get the second goal they needed to win.
