Mourinho looks for positives after Chelsea, Valencia draw
LONDON: Coach Jose Mourinho put a brave face on Chelsea's 1-1 Champions League draw with Valencia on Wednesday and said the English champions could turn their quarterfinal tie around in Spain next week.
David Silva gave Valencia a 30th minute lead and a precious away goal, while Didier Drogba levelled for Chelsea soon after the re-start of the first leg at Stamford Bridge.
Mourinho, whose side had won their previous four home league games in Europe, told a news conference: "Maybe everyone thinks they are one step ahead and enjoying this result.
"But if I was in their place, I would be very cautious.
"I imagine the Valencia players feel more comfortable playing at their Mestalla stadium than here.
"But if we have a good referee, not influenced by the enthusiastic atmosphere, why can't we get a result there?"
The winner of this tie will probably face Liverpool, who beat Ronald Koeman's PSV Eindhoven 3-0 away on Tuesday, and Mourinho was quick to draw a comparison with his side's result.
"It's 1-1 not 0-3," said the Chelsea coach, whose team would be knocked out on the away goals rule by a 0-0 draw next week.
"If you ask Ronald now, I think he would say that he doesn't believe he can beat Liverpool at Anfield 4-0.
"But Chelsea can win in Valencia. Chelsea can draw 1-1, 2-2 or go to extra time. But of course it's difficult, because they are a good team and they are playing at home."
Asked about his halftime talk, Mourinho added: "I said I felt we could perfectly well change the result; and that even if we couldn't, the tie would be open with that kind of result - 0-1, 1-1, 2-1 - so there was no reason to panic."
Valencia coach Enrique Sanchez Flores was upbeat about the draw and the prospect of finishing Chelsea off in Spain.
"We've got objective one achieved, which was to take the game into the second leg, so the tie will be settled in the Mestalla, rather than here. So that's good," he said.
The Valencia coach also warned Chelsea to expect a more attacking display in next Tuesday's second leg from main striker David Villa, who had a relatively quiet game in west London.
"Not just David Villa, but the rest of the team will probably have a more offensive approach than we did tonight because we're playing at home.
"David will obviously be expected to play his part in that.
"Tonight I think he was taken away from his attacking duties slightly by tackling back and helping out defensively.
"But certainly at home we'll see the attacking side of David Villa and he'll be creating more chances for himself, I'm sure."
Agencies
(China Daily 04/06/2007 page24)
