UCL: Chelsea Ease Through As Dynamo Kyiv Edge Maccabi
Brazil winger Willian netted the second goal after the break to kill off Mourinho’s former club and ensure they finished top of the Group G.
Chelsea qualified for the UEFA Champions League round of 16 after beating Porto 2-0 on Wednesday night. While Chelsea’s ills have hardly been magically cured, there is now room for some optimism ahead of a challenging Premier League fixture against leaders Leicester City next Monday.
Chelsea looked composed from the start and when Belgian forward Eden Hazard served Costa a perfectly weighted ball in the 12th minute, Iker Casillas in the Porto goal could only parry the Spain striker’s shot.
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has revealed the lengths he went to in order to avoid a one-match UEFA ban.
Chelsea’s Diego Costa, left, drives the ball past Porto’s Ivan Marcano during the Champions Leag …
Jose Mourinho believes Chelsea can defy expectations to win the Champions League and climb into the Premier League’s top four after a victory which eased speculation over his job.
“One thing is when one thing doesn’t work, but when four or five players are not playing (well) it is more hard”.
“A team that is struggling like we are is not obviously a candidate to win the Champions League”, he said.
The defeat, coupled with Dynamo Kyiv’s 1-0 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv, means Porto will play in the Europa League with the Ukrainian side progressing instead. “When when we were candidates we lost two semi-finals with Real Madrid and lost two semi-finals with Chelsea so you never know”.
Arsenal went into the sixth and final Group F matchday three points adrift of second-placed Olympiacos and knowing they had to win by two clear goals to see them leapfrog the hosts.
But he then proved a constant threat, testing Porto’s experienced Spanish goalkeeper to re-ignite a rivalry dating from their time at opposing Madrid sides Real and Atletico. “They want to get us or Zenit because they think we are weaker”, said Mourinho, omitting the other seeded team, Manchester City.
He has a clear lack of confidence but his attitude is very good: “his effort, his commitment, his great movement, which he did not have for two months before”.
It’s evident Chelsea has the manpower to secure the victory tonight, they just have to utilize their ability to get a good result.
Lionel Messi scored his 15th Champions League goal against German opposition, the most by any player in the competition. We knew we could conceded a goal and still qualify.
Arsene Wenger heaped praise on Arsenal’s ideal performance as they completed the great escape to make it out of the Champions League group stage on Wednesday.
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