Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea players were instructed to foul Lionel Messi, reveals leaked scouting report

FC Barcelona v Chelsea FC - UEFA Champions League Round of 16: Second Leg
FC Barcelona v Chelsea FC - UEFA Champions League Round of 16: Second Leg

What's the story?

The Times UK has reported that Chelsea players under Jose Mourinho were instructed to foul Barcelona ace Lionel Messi during their Champions League Round of 16 clash against the Catalan giants in 2006.

This was revealed in a leaked scouting report that was published on the Performance Analysis in Action Twitter account earlier this week.

In case you didn't know...

Chelsea went head-to-head against Barcelona in the Champions League Round of 16 fixture that saw the Premier League outfit crash out of the competition after a 3-2 aggregate loss to the LaLiga side.

What comes to mind following the leak is the red card left-back Asier Del Horno received for a challenge on Messi in a game that saw the Argentine overcome an array of similar challenges.

Barcelona went on to win the European title that season after defeating Arsenal at the Stade de France.

The heart of the matter

The leaked report noted that should the Chelsea players foul Messi, they should do so outside the box and "as early as possible". It also claimed that Barcelona constantly aims to "simulate free-kicks and penalties", while also attacking a number of legends like Ronaldinho and Carles Puyol.

There were claims that Ronaldinho was a “constant cheater” and Carles Puyol "gets crazy with referees", among many damning individual assessments.

The publication of the report has raised many questions into the disgraceful manner Messi has been targeted during the fixture.

What's next?

Mourinho has since responded to the leak, denying any involvement in the scouting report. Speaking to The Sun, the former Chelsea boss said, "I am sorry to disappoint those I think I wrote the reports, but I did not. The reports are not mine. I did not write them."

"The last report I wrote I have it at home. I was in Barcelona and this was in the 1999/2000 season."

"I was assistant and I shared with other colleagues the responsibility of analysing and preparing documents about our opponents for the manager."

"Since I arrived at Benfica and until now my analysis never became official reports, but key ideas that helped me to prepare the training work and the matches planning."

"Official reports were always done by analysts, assistants and computer technicians, but never by me."

Also see : women's world cup, womens world cup bracket, Womens World Cup Standings

Quick Links

Edited by Sujith M