Blues’ cocktail of risk and sacrifice goes down a Special treat

Jose Mourinho praised his Chelsea players for embracing his high-risk strategy in Tuesday night’s Champions League quarter-final success over Paris St Germain.

So determined was the self-proclaimed Special One to help Chelsea into a seventh semi-final in 11 years – and his eighth in the same period – he fielded all three of his much-maligned strikers at the same time as Chelsea chased the decisive goal.

It came three minutes from time from Demba Ba, who became an unlikely hero in a season where he has found game time limited. Mourinho revelled in the success – a 2-0 win on the night earned a 3-3 aggregate draw and progress on away goals – and lauded all aspects of his side’s performance.