Jose plays down defeat
23 Nov 2006 - 07:56:00
- Jose plays down defeat
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho played down his side's 1-0 loss at Werder Bremen, with the Blues already safely through to the last 16 of the Champions League.
The Portuguese was relieved after the defeat in Germany, having seen both Didier Drogba (ankle) and Michael Ballack (calf) been forced off in the second half due to injuries.
Afterwards, Mourinho commented: "Ballack's injury is nothing special. The opposing player put his studs on his muscle and it is just painful.
"Didier is the same. He has a pain in the ankle but it is nothing serious. Normally, he will be fit enough for Sunday."
Of his side's overall display, Mourinho added: "Ballack did not have a good game. I think our midfield missed Frank Lampard because he is responsible for the first phase of the game.
"Lampard is important because he affects the performances of everybody else in that department.
"We did not have enough power in attack in the last 20 minutes because we lost Drogba through injury.
"A draw would probably have been a fair result, but I accept that Bremen fought very hard to get three points.
"I am never happy with a defeat, but this is different because we have still qualified for the second stage of the competition."