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Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has said that Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are not front runners to win the Champions League. Speaking to the press ahead of the Blues away fixture against Paris Saint-Germain, the 52-year-old said that the competition always throws up surprises and one can't predict who would be take home the title in the end.
"I don't agree at all that they're favourites because the Champions League always has space for surprises," Mourinho told reporters.
"You go through the last decade and see teams winning the competition who you expect to win, but you also have teams you don't expect to win. You can balance it almost 50-50.
“You have three or four teams people would not be expecting. I really don't know the candidates when it goes to the knockout stage. At the moment, there are 16 candidates for me,” The Portuguese manager, who guided FC Porto to an unlikely win in 2004, said.
We have the best keepers in the Premier League: Mourinho
Mourinho refused to divulge who would be guarding the goal in the game, after Peter Cech produced a good performance in their side’s 1-0 win over Everton last Thursday at home.
"Courtois doesn’t know if he will play or not, so I can’t tell you. He has to hear it from me, not from the media.
"But I repeat, Chelsea has the two best goalkeepers in the Premier League, and for me it’s an easy job. I’m very happy with both. Every time one plays the team is very confident because they know they have a top goalkeeper,” he said.
Costa will play at the Parc des Princes: Mourinho
However, he did confirm that key striker Diego Costa will start in the game on Tuesday, but admitted that the Spaniard would be a bit rusty heading into the game.
"Yes, I will start him, but I don’t think it’s good for a player to go three matches without starting a game.I don’t think he's in the best condition,” the former Real Madrid boss said.
"But at the same time Loic Remy and Didier Drogba played in the last three matches. It’s obviously important for them to get minutes and have confidence and I know I have them both ready,” he added.
