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Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has stated that John Terry deserves to win the Champions League ahead of their semi-final clash against Atletico.
The ‘Special One’ feels that the competition owes more to his star defender and he needs a trophy to rid off both the good and bad times of previous finals in 2008 and 2012 respectively.
Chelsea host Atletico Madrid at the Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night and Mourinho, who is making his fifth successive semi-final appearance as a manager, stressed that his experience at this stage will be of little significance when they face the RojiBlancos
“I don’t think it’s a crucial point,” he said.
“Maybe it helps me to sleep fine tonight, but during the game – it’s a game. It’s a game. A knockout game. A game of details. A game where, maybe, we don’t know, one goal is the difference.”
“It’s a game where everyone needs to be at the top level, but the players are more important than me. During the 90 minutes, the players are more important than the manager. I trust them. I trust them a lot and that helps me to be calm.
“We have to enjoy the match. Really. The players, too. There are some matches that are special. The match every player wants to play is the Champions League final, but after that game it’s the second leg of the Champions League semi-final. So we have to enjoy it. After the game, let’s see if we go to Lisbon or not. I will go for sure in the summer anyway. But let’s see if we can go together.” added Mourinho.
John Terry, who suffered an ankle injury in the 1st leg against Atletico, was supposed to be sidelined for weeks as suggested by Jose. But the Blues veteran, who took part in the team’s training regime yesterday, seems to have recovered and may feature in the starting line up.
Talking in his pre-match conference Terry said,“It means a lot to us as players. We’ve been in this position before, but that doesn’t make us any less determined to get to the final. As a player, you want to play in a Champions League final. One hundred per cent. That’s my aim, that’s the players’ aim, right from the word go.”
John Terry ended up on the loosing side when he had missed the penalty in the 2008 Champions League final against Manchester United. He had to wait for more years to get his hands on the trophy after Chelsea managed to clinch the title from Bayern Munich in 2012. But Terry wasn’t involved in the game as he sat out through a suspension.
“I think he [Terry] deserves more than the Champions League has given him up to now,” Mourinho said.
“He lost a few semi-finals in special circumstances. He lost the final also in special circumstances. He won a final in special circumstances because he couldn’t play. I think the Champions League owes him something.” he added.
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