Mourinho continues to boycott pre-match press conferences

ROME (AFP) - Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho will continue to boycott pre-match press conferences ahead of this weekend's crunch clash with AS Roma, his team said Thursday.

Mourinho has skipped his press appointments before and after matches for the last five Serie A encounters since he was hit with a three-game touchline ban for making a handcuffs gesture to television cameras.

The former Chelsea boss made the sign during his team's 0-0 draw at home to Sampdoria last month, after Inter had been reduced to nine men before the break.

The Portuguese's only public comments have come before and after Champions League matches.

Mourinho has been villified in the Italian press this season and a relationship of mutual animosity has developped between him and the media corps.

Now he sends players to speak to the press instead of appearing himself, such as following Wednesday's 3-0 win over Livorno when centre-back Ivan Cordoba spoke to the media.

Inter lead the Serie A table by four points from AC Milan and Roma with eight games remaining but should the champions lose in Rome on Saturday, there would only be a point between the top two.

Press conference statement:

Press conference Video

source: skysports.com

Inter going on!

LONDON (AFP) - Jose Mourinho insisted Inter Milan's 1-0 victory - 3-1 on aggregate - over his former club Chelsea in the Champions League on Tuesday was just reward for the perfect performance.

Mourinho savoured a moment of sweet revenge for his sacking as Chelsea boss in September 2007 as Samuel Eto'o's late goal at Stamford Bridge sent the Blues crashing out of Europe's elite club competition at the last 16 stage.

The Portuguese coach, who won five major trophies in three years with Chelsea, crafted a brilliant game-plan to frustrate Carlo Ancelotti's side and he admitted his Inter players carried it out to the letter.

"I am very happy because we won and we were the best team. Sometimes in football you win because you were lucky and sometimes you win because you are the best team from the first minute until the last. That is the perfect win. That team was my team," Mourinho said.

"I think everything was superior. Chelsea had reactions of frustration, of a team that felt the opposition was superior. Our team started the second half in an incredible way.

"We were the best team by far. Chelsea is a great team, we know that and we came here knowing very well the way they play. We knew that if you don't control the game by having the ball you have no chance.

"Every player performed at the highest level to win here, this must be almost a perfect performance. We deserve so much this victory, we were the best team."

Mourinho had promised not to celebrate if Inter won, but he leapt to his feet when Eto'o scored and then hurried down the tunnel at full-time to enjoy the moment with his players in the dressing room.

"I celebrated a lot in the dressing room when the game was over. It was a big victory for my team," Mourinho said.

"As I have said before, I am a professional, I love Chelsea, I love this stadium, I love these people but I am a professional.

"Who knows, in the future I may coach another English team and I will come here again as an opponent."

Ancelotti was brought to Chelsea by owner Roman Abramovich with the specific aim of ending the club's long wait to be crowned kings of Europe, but instead the Blues have bowed out in the last 16 for the first time since 2006.

The Italian has never been on good terms with Mourinho but he conceded Inter were well worth their victory and, with Abramovich perhaps in mind, he apologised for Chelsea's premature exit.

"Inter deserved to win. They played a very good game. They put strong pressure on our midfielders and we were not capable of playing how we wanted," Ancelotti said.

"We were never fully in control during the game. There were only a few moments when we could control it. I think we could play better.

"We are very sorry, but this is the reality. I am disappointed because we are out of a very important competition but I want to say best wishes to Inter because I have nothing against them or Mourinho."

The result was a tactical triumph for Mourinho but Ancelotti insisted he had not been out-witted by the Inter coach.

"I wasn't surprised by Mourinho's tactics. One thing I was surpised by was the hard work put in by the two wide players, Eto'o and Pandev," he added.

Mourinho after match Quotes 16.03.2019: hightlight quotes

Chelsea - Inter 0:1

"I celebrated a lot in the dressing room when the game was over. It was a big victory for my team. As I have said before, I am a professional, I love Chelsea, I love this stadium, I love these people but I am a professional.''

"Who knows, in the future I may coach another English team and I will come here as an opponent.''

Mourinho says his team were better than Chelsea in every aspect on the evening. "I think everything was superior'' he said. "I don't think it was tactics, it was attitude on the pitch".

"They had reactions of frustration, of a team that felt the opposition was superior. Our team started the second half in an incredible way".

"We were the best team by far. Chelsea is a great team, we know that and we came here knowing very well the way they play. We knew that if you don't control the game by having the ball you have no chance".

"Every player performed at the highest level to win here, this must be almost a perfect performance. We deserve so much this victory, we were the best team''.

About the Inter future in the Champions League, Mourinho said: "I learned that we can beat anyone because Chelsea is not just anyone - they are one of the best. We can win at any stadium, but there are eight good teams (left) in the competition, and we could lose against anyone too.''

To be or not to be day, for Jose Mourinho

Jose Mourinho will lose his job at the end of this season if Inter Milan fail to progress past his former club Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the Champions League tonight, according to an Italian news agency.

Jose Mourinho is under pressure to deliver.

The source, close to Internationale, told Soccernet: "The Inter chairman, Moratti, bought Mourinho to win the Champions League, simple as that. If he loses at Chelsea, he is out, out at the end of the season.

"Inter are not paying him 11 million euros after tax just to win the league, they can do that all the time, but they cannot seem to get past the last-16 in the Champions League, and that's why they hired Jose Mourinho.

"If Inter fail again to make an impression in the Champions League they will need to find a manager who can, so that is what is at stake for Jose Mourinho at Chelsea. Inter are the most powerful, financially sound and strongest club in Italy. They have won the title four years in a row, three under Roberto Mancini, and should win it again, although they have had a ten-point lead whittled down to one point.

"The Italian fans, the media, and everyone in Italy do not see Jose Mourinho as 'the Special One' - far from it, in fact.

"Don't forget in Italy we have World Cup winners, Champions League winners, and they all come without all the fuss and baggage that Jose Mourinho brings with him, so we are not besotted with Jose Mourinho as you are in England."

Mourinho is in the middle of a personal feud with one of his star players, Mario Balotelli, as the source added: "He is extremely gifted on the pitch, but he is young and moody, difficult to manage, and Jose Mourinho has left him at home. They have a longstanding feud. He was asked by the Italian media why, and he replied that he will only talk about the players who are here.

"Mourinho is not liked by the media, or by the Inter fans. Mourinho says he wants to go back to England, and much depends on what happens at Chelsea."

source: espn

Chelsea - Inter 16.03.2010

Without trying to making a hyperbolic statement, Chelsea's Champions League clash with Inter on Tuesday threatens to be the Blues' biggest game of the season.

The elusive trophy, that the west London side were a John Terry slipped penalty away from in 2008, would be the final piece in a silverware jigsaw that makes up the Stamford Bridge trophy cabinet.

And fate dictates that it should be Jose Mourinho - the former king of Stamford Bridge - who should stand in Chelsea's way of another crack at Holy Grail of the Champions League.

Mourinho's Inter side carry a lead 2-1 from the first leg of this round-of-16 clash to his former stomping ground and will be keen to remind Chelsea fans he remains the 'Special One' - while at the same time trying to mastermind a first Italian capture of the trophy since 2007.

Inter have never lifted the Champions League trophy, since its re-branding in 1992, and an aggregate victory on Tuesday night would take the bullish Portuguese manager one step closer to winning the cup the Nerazzurri last claimed in 1965 when it was the European Cup.

The first leg victory for Inter exposed woeful cracks in a previously tight Chelsea defense, with John Terry looking a shadow of his former self, and since then Chelsea have stumbled domestically, losing handsomely to Manchester City before beating weak West Ham and Stoke sides less-than-convincingly.

Those results seem to have handed the initiative back to Manchester United in the Premier League, but Blues fans would walk the Premier League trophy to Old Trafford if it meant getting a hand on the European Cup.

Taking the cup back to west London would be validation for Roman Abramovich's millions poured into the club over the past few years, but losing out to their arrogant former boss will be hard to swallow.

News:

Chelsea

Third-choice goalkeeper Ross Turnbull will face the biggest test of his career when he lines up to face Inter, thanks to injuries to Petr Cech and Henrique Hilario. Turnbull was between the sticks for the 4-1 win over West Ham at the weekend and his only Champions League experience to date is a 2-2 draw with Greek minnows Apoel Nicosia.

There is better news for Blues manager Carlo Ancelotti in defense, where Ricardo Carvalho returns following a hamstring staring. Ancelotti has no fresh injury doubts elsewhere, with Michael Essien (knee), Ashley Cole (ankle), Jose Bosingwa (knee) all still sidelined for the Stamford Bridge return leg.

Last starting XI (v West Ham): Turnbull, Ferreira, Terry, Alex, Ivanovic, Malouda, Lampard, Mikel, Ballack, Drogba, Anelka.

Inter

Striker Mario Balotelli hasn't traveled with the team to London, although quite why remains a mystery to the temperamental Italian's agent. "I don't know why he has not been called up. I will find out," Mino Raiola vowed.

Meanwhile, Julio Cesar was involved in a minor car accident over the weekend but is expected to be fit to take his place in goal.

Defender Cristian Chivu is out with a fractured skull and David Santon has a knee problem, so Javier Zanetti will line up on the left side of defense.

Last starting XI (v Catania): Cesar, Maicon, Lucio, Materazzi, Zanetti, Stankovic, Cambiasso, Mariga, Sneijder, Milito, Eto'o.

PREDICTION

Chelsea's desperation to win the Champions League should see the Blues come out of the blocks strongly, roared on by a vociferous Stamford Bridge crowd. But Jose Mourinho is a man who knows what it's like to lift the trophy - having done so in 2004 with Porto - and also knows Chelsea almost as well a current boss Carlo Ancelotti does.

Chelsea's home record is impressive, but Inter know they have a simple task - stop the Blues, and more accurately Dider Drogba, from scoring and the tie is theirs.

It will be close, and it will be fiercely fought, but fortune seems to favor the Italians on this occasion.

source: goal.com