Jose
Mourinho's touchline dash after Chelsea scored the goal that clinched their
Champions League semi-final place on Tuesday was not done just because he
wanted to celebrate with his players by the corner flag.
Although it
evoked memories of his famous victory sprint and knee-slide with Porto against
Manchester United at Old Trafford in 2004, the coach explained he had something
else in mind near the end of their 2-0 win over Paris St Germain.
The
Portuguese leapt out of his technical area and sprinted away, punching the air
with his right fist after Demba Ba's 87th minute stike levelled the aggregate
score at 3-3 and saw Chelsea qualify on the away goals rule.
"I
didn't go to the corner flag to celebrate, but you can see I can run,"
Mourinho told reporters at Stamford Bridge.
"I went
to tell them the changes we had to make. There were three minutes plus added
time left and the way we were playing was too risky.
"I
wanted Demba Ba to play in front of the defenders and (fellow substitute
striker) Fernando Torres to defend (PSG's) Maxwell. I tried to use them in
different jobs."
It speaks
volumes for Mourinho that he tried to get through to his men when they were
screaming in delight and the noise from the delirious home fans was at its peak
on an incredibly tense night.
Having
glimpsed success, he was not prepared to waste a moment securing it as he
stayed on course to become the first man to lift the European Cup with three
different clubs after his triumphs with Porto in 2004 and Inter Milan in 2010.
He could get
the chance to do it at the end of May at the Stadium of Light in Lisbon, the
home ground of Benfica, the club where he was briefly in charge at the start of
his coaching career before reaching the heights of the European game.
domestic
league titles in England, Portugal, Italy and Spain.
The
Portuguese has won all nine European competition quarter-finals he has been
involved in - eight in the Champions League and one in the UEFA Cup.
His team
outfought PSG in the end as the French side, 3-1 up from the first leg,
dominated the early part of the game before visibly wilting in the face of
unrelenting Chelsea pressure in the second half when they were already 1-0 down
after Andre Schuerrle scored in the 32nd minute.
Mourinho
added: "I think we did enough at beginning of the second half to score
before we did. In the second half we totally dominated and we had all the
possession. But it was difficult for us to penetrate.
"We did
it in training yesterday, with three different systems, all of which we used.
The players knew what they had to do. Demba Ba made a crucial finish for us.
"It was
a deserved win that the team that tried to defend was punished. The team that
played with their heart deserved to go through."
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