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Jose Mourinho has confirmed Chelsea striker Diego Costa has a “little chance” of facing Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday. It had been believed the Spanish international was unavailable for selection, but a confident Mourinho confirmed the potent striker had a chance of starting at United.
“Diego Costa has a chance,” he said at Chelsea’s Cobham training complex. “He has a little chance. same as Ramires and Mikel (John Obi). The only one I can confirm is Remy (Loic). Remy has no chance.” Of the Frenchman’s time on the sidelines, Mourinho said: “I'd say two weeks, three weeks so Remy's out.”
On Diego Costa’s injury
Mourinho claimed Costa’s recovery from injury had been disrupted by a viral infection, with the striker kept in isolation.
“Everything has happened to him. He was obviously injured and he had to go to the hospital with a viral situation that we didn't manage to resolve without being in the hospital over one night before Maribor. He wouldn't have been ready from his injury before Maribor. All the treatment he did was medical staff at his because we didn't want to bring him here with the viral situation. He is training individually, not yet with us.”
The Chelsea manager confessed he is yet to ascertain who will lead his line at Old Trafford. “I don't know, he said when asked whether Didier Drogba would start on Sunday. “I'm being honest, I don’t know really.”
Drogba converted a penalty in Chelsea’s 6-0 UEFA Champions League victory over insipid Slovenian minnows NK Maribor on Tuesday after replacing the injured Remy but played 75 minutes, with Mourinho earlier suggesting the Ivorian could not last for that long. “He's okay. No reaction from his injury so in the end it was a good training session for him. We are happy with the reaction and he is happy too.”
On facing Louis van Gaal
Mourinho exuded confidence as he prepares to face a star-studded United team led by his mentor Louis Van Gaal, who advanced the Portuguese’s coach’s progress at Barcelona. “I only have positive news. We are playing well and we are top of the league. We are in a good position to qualify for the Champions League. The camp is happy and we are ready for the game.
“He was important. He gave me a good opportunity to keep working at a high level as a young coach to be working for four consecutive years, one with Mr Robson and three with Louis, with a club like Barcelona was very important. If I had to choose the most important people in my career, Louis would be among them. Everyone knows the respect I have for him. I never hide the respect, the relation and the influence he had on my career. After tomorrow, he will be my opponent. I’m not going to speak more about it. He knows what I feel about him, I know what I feel about him.”
The tactical duo have only played each other competitively on the solitary instance of the 2010 UEFA Champions League final in Madrid. “We played some friendly match. We were never in the same league. In the Champions League, you depend on draws and it happened only once but that’s not important. For me, important is that Chelsea plays against United, not I play against Louis. I have no time to see who the opponent manager is and I’m sure he is the same. After the match, he is one of my big friends in football.”
On his plan against Manchester United
Mourinho adopted a pragmatic approach in the last meeting between Chelsea and United at Old Trafford, but the Chelsea manager insisted his team would target three points on Sunday. “Try the best result,” he said of his team’s approach. “Try to play as good as we are playing and we are always trying to play. Respecting an opponent which is one of the best in the Premier League. We are confident and we are in a good moment and there is no reason for us to change our feeling. We play against a big team and we are going to try the best possible result.
“Man United is Man United. For me it doesn't matter the manager, it doesn't matter the players, it doesn't matter the table. Man United is Man United and I always look at them without these sectors. I like to play big matches, I like to play against the best teams, I like to play in the big stadiums. I always enjoy these matches so to go to Old Trafford I did it with four different clubs. I did it with Porto, Inter, Real Madrid and Chelsea. I don’t want to analyse Man United.”
