Mourinho: Third goal was a joke
Jose Mourinho issued a scathing assessment of Chelsea’s performance – and his strikers – after the 3-1 loss at Paris St Germain which leaves his side’s Champions League hopes hanging in the balance.
Fernando Torres, a £50million signing from Liverpool in January 2011, was not selected for the quarter-final first leg at the Parc des Princes, with Andre Schurrle preferred as a ’false nine’.
And Mourinho was left to glance enviously at a PSG side featuring Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi, who scored the opening goal in the hosts’ 3-1 win.
“I’m not happy with my strikers’ performances, so I have to try things,” Mourinho said.
“With Andre at least I know we have one more player to have the ball, we have one more player to associate with the other players.
“Football is also about scoring goals. That is for strikers, for real strikers. I had to try.”
Mourinho lamented individual mistakes and a “joke” third goal conceded by the 2012 European Cup winners.
Eden Hazard’s penalty had given the Blues a potentially vital away goal, but Javier Pastore’s brilliant stoppage-time solo goal, added to Lavezzi’s strike and a David Luiz own goal, saw PSG take a two-goal advantage into next week’s second leg at Stamford Bridge.
Mourinho said: “The third goal was a joke. It’s not a goal. It’s a joke.
“We enjoyed the third goal with Pastore. The third goal was Pastore and us.
“We made individual mistakes in areas where for the whole season the guys perform and we have no problems.
“They have the right to make their mistakes, because we have other players that make mistakes the whole season. We paid the price.”
Chelsea, beaten by Crystal Palace last Saturday, have now lost three of their last five games after just one defeat in the previous 17.
But Mourinho maintains the Blues can advance to the semi-finals for a seventh time in 11 years.
“We have nothing to lose now,” Mourinho said.
“When you are losing 3-1 there is no approach. We have to try to win 2-0, 3-1, 4-1.
“We have to play thinking that it’s possible. And, to be fair, I don’t think Paris think that it’s done. I think they feel they are in a good position, but I think they know that it’s not over.”
Chelsea must replicate the overturning of a two-goal deficit against Napoli en route to winning the competition two years ago.
PSG boss Laurent Blanc believes Pastore’s third may give his side chances on the counter attack in west London.
“For the second leg Chelsea will have to attack and we might have some opportunities to play on the counter attack,” Blanc said.
“It will be an exciting game but quite a difficult one over there.”
PSG may travel to London without Ibrahimovic after the striker suffered a hamstring injury midway through the second half.
Blanc said: “He has a muscular problem. He’ll probably need to do a few more exams.”
