M
Mikey
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Inter Milan
Juventus
Milan
Chelsea
Lyon
Liverpool
Bayern Munich
PSV Eindhoven
Thought I'd lead thread with this enjoyable piece:
Mourinho wary of Italians
Jose Mourinho has admitted that he wants to avoid an Italian side in the quarter finals of the UEFA Champions League.
Chelsea qualified thanks to a scintillating 4-2 second leg win over Spanish outfit Barcelona, but Mourinho is insistent that such a performance could not occur against the defensively superior Serie A sides.
Milan, Internazionale and Juventus are all in the draw, which takes place at 11am on Friday, and have won the European Cup a total of ten times between them.
It is this European pedigree that the Portuguese tactician fears, and he admitted his team would have to pull out all the stops were they to face any of the Italian giants.
"You always want to play the big teams, the big managers and the big players but I don't like to play Italians," said Mourinho.
"If you play Italian teams you can expect a perfect defensive team, they are the most difficult teams to play against in Europe, as you can see by their records.
"Playing an Italian team is not the same as a Spanish or French, we must be a team with thinking qualities.
"You can't play with the heart or by instinct; you need to be clever enough to play with the brain."
In Porto's remarkable Champions League triumph under Mourinho in 2004 they avoided any of the Serie A sides, although it is likely that if he is to claim this year's trophy as well the Chelsea boss will not be as lucky.
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I'm not Mourinho's biggest fan, but he scored some points with these admissions
http://footballmsn.skysports.com/list.asp?hlid=26
Juventus
Milan
Chelsea
Lyon
Liverpool
Bayern Munich
PSV Eindhoven
Thought I'd lead thread with this enjoyable piece:
Mourinho wary of Italians
Jose Mourinho has admitted that he wants to avoid an Italian side in the quarter finals of the UEFA Champions League.
Chelsea qualified thanks to a scintillating 4-2 second leg win over Spanish outfit Barcelona, but Mourinho is insistent that such a performance could not occur against the defensively superior Serie A sides.
Milan, Internazionale and Juventus are all in the draw, which takes place at 11am on Friday, and have won the European Cup a total of ten times between them.
It is this European pedigree that the Portuguese tactician fears, and he admitted his team would have to pull out all the stops were they to face any of the Italian giants.
"You always want to play the big teams, the big managers and the big players but I don't like to play Italians," said Mourinho.
"If you play Italian teams you can expect a perfect defensive team, they are the most difficult teams to play against in Europe, as you can see by their records.
"Playing an Italian team is not the same as a Spanish or French, we must be a team with thinking qualities.
"You can't play with the heart or by instinct; you need to be clever enough to play with the brain."
In Porto's remarkable Champions League triumph under Mourinho in 2004 they avoided any of the Serie A sides, although it is likely that if he is to claim this year's trophy as well the Chelsea boss will not be as lucky.
======================================
I'm not Mourinho's biggest fan, but he scored some points with these admissions
http://footballmsn.skysports.com/list.asp?hlid=26