Chelsea star Diego Costa admits he made a mistake by throwing a bib at manager Jose Mourinho but has played down reports of a rift with the Special One.
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Chelsea are having difficulties domestically, but responded to an eighth Premier League defeat of the season against Bournemouth with a victory which sealed their place in the last 16.
Speaking of incidents, talking with Spanish radio after the match, Costa took responsibility for bib-gate from the Spurs match and claims that all is good between him and the Chelsea manager.
“The thing with the bib is done, it’s over”, Costa said.
When Mourinho was asked why their performances in the Premier League and Europe were different, he told BT Sport: “I think we are not lucky in the Premier League and luck is part of the game”. There are things you need to control, but the bib thing was an impulse.
But Mourinho insists Chelsea will finish in the top four, even if they are 14 points adrift of the leaders after 15 games.
Chelsea can play Paris St Germain – for a third straight season – PSV Eindhoven, Benfica, Juventus, Roma or Gent in the next round.
After the second leg, PSG captain Thiago Silva – who scored the decisive away goal at Stamford Bridge – accused Mourinho of “lacking respect” for his side. With Porto [in 2005] we weren’t favourites and we won the title. When we scored they were in a hard position because they needed to win, a point wasn’t enough for them. There is still a long way to go but we will give it our best. Yes, clearly. But his attitude was very good and his movement was much better.
Costa’s shot, after being set free by Eden Hazard’s through-ball, was straight at Iker Casillas whose save was diverted back past him and over the line by returning defender Marcano.
But the players showed their old passing precision and defensive solidity to tame a Porto side who have lost only one game this season – to Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League last month.
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Costa arrived at Chelsea from Atletico Madrid for £32 million in July past year but his struggles this season have sparked rumours he could be heading back to the Vicente Calderon. This is football and I understand journalism has to meet the demands of what people want but obviously I don’t mind and I’m not interested in what a website says.
