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Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho slyly criticized Brendan Rodgers for Liverpool’s team selection for their Champions League encounter against Real Madrid on Tuesday, insisting that he, on the other hand, will always put his best team out when confronting “the most difficult opponents”.
With Liverpool’s progress to the last 16 of the Champions League being not completely dependent on their showing at the Bernabeu, Brendan Rodgers decided to rest five key players – captain Steven Gerrard, Raheem Sterling, Mario Balotelli, Jordan Henderson and Philippe Coutinho.
The Reds eventually “surrendered” the tie by a margin of 1-0. The Liverpool manager, in fairness, has made it clear that the Premier League, and finishing in the top four, takes priority over other competitions.
Will always play my best players for big matches: Mourinho
Mourinho, however, categorically stated that he was not speaking specifically about Liverpool, whom Mourinho and his charges will play against at Anfield on Saturday, before adding that he would never adopt such a policy for a big game.
There is always a thin line between what Mourinho says and what he means, a line that he has inculcated into his speeches with much care.
“I don’t speak about Liverpool, I speak about myself,” he said. “If one day I go to a game and I don’t feel I can win, maybe I don’t go. So, normally, against the most difficult opponents, I will try to go with my best team,” Mourinho said.
“But who knows? Liverpool might play a fantastic match and win and rest players and the players are in great condition to play against Chelsea. In this case it might be a genius decision. In football it is difficult to comment.”
A rare semi-apology from Mourinho
Unrelatedly, in a rare admission of the possibility that he could have been in the wrong, Jose Mourinho has agreed that he perhaps went too far in his comments criticizing the “atmosphere” at Chelsea’s home games.
"Maybe I go a little bit too far. But I see myself in the stands, watching Chelsea and I want to play, I want to help,” Mourinho said, perhaps in an attempt to try a different approach to firing up the Chelsea faithful.
