Mourinho rooting for super Eagles
United need a point to ensure they reach the knockout stage of the tournament but Mourinho warned Alex Ferguson and his men that Benfica are capable of winning at Old Trafford.
And in a veiled dig at Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo, Mourinho said it would not be so easy for him to “get one of his penalties”.
Ronaldo was at the centre of more controversy at the weekend when he earned United a penalty in their victory over Middlesbrough even though replays clearly showed there had been no contact between him and goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer.
Mourinho’s Porto side knocked United out of the competition at the last-16 stage two years ago when Costinha’s last-minute goal gave them a 3-2 aggregate success.
Now Mourinho believes Benfica can deliver a similar knockout blow to United.
“Benfica is a team that when you watch them you don’t know what is going to happen. The last game they were magnificent against Sporting Lisbon. They beat them 2-0 away and played very well. Players were performing at the highest level and the team looked very solid.
“If they go to Manchester and play at their highest level they can do it. Of course, it is not easy, but they can do it.
“They know Ronaldo well and how to deal with him. So it won’t be easy for him to get one of his penalties. Benfica have got a chance. I will be rooting for them for sure, if I didn’t I could not go home.”
Mourinho will resist the temptation to send out a weakened side against Levski Sofia at Stamford Bridge tonight for fear of finishing second in their Champions League group.
Chelsea still require a victory to ensure they finish top of Group A and the Portuguese coach stressed he has no intention of resting a host of key players ahead of Sunday’s Premiership clash with Arsenal.
However, Mourinho did concede that veteran France midfielder Claude Makelele will be left out of his line-up along with left-back Ashley Cole while captain and central defender John Terry misses out through suspension.
Victory for Werder Bremen over Barcelona and defeat for Chelsea would rob the English champions of top spot and that is something Mourinho desperately wants to avoid.
Mourinho said: “The motivation for us is to finish top. We know if we lose the game we are not first in the group.
“We know if Werder Bremen win, we need to win to be first in the group. Because we won’t know how the game in Barcelona will end, we have to think of all possibilities. We must win the game to finish top.
“The good thing is the first team in the group plays the second game at home in the next round and that can be an advantage. So we have that responsibility.
“This game is not one where we can relax because we need a result. In many of the groups, 10 points is enough to be first but we still need a result.
“I will give a rest to Makelele because he needs that, John Terry is suspended and Ashley Cole will be on the bench but after that I will try and play with my best team.”
Mourinho is still smarting over the Premiership fixture changes which left them without a game over the weekend.
Chelsea’s clash with Newcastle was moved because of the latter’s involvement in the UEFA Cup and that has left title rivals Manchester United six points ahead of them at the top of the league.
“I was not happy for two reasons. The first reason is because when you have good results you want to carry on and play again and we had to stop. The second reason was because we didn’t play Newcastle and when we play them, they will have had one more day to rest than us, so we are punished in two ways.”
