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Wednesday, 11 December 2013
José Mourinho wants Galatasaray for Didier Drogba- Chelsea reunion
José Mourinho is hoping Monday's
Champions League knockout draw pairs
Chelsea with Galatasaray to offer Didier
Drogba a return to the club with whom
he enjoyed a glittering eight-year spell.
The Ivorian's last involvement as a
Chelsea player was to slide the decisive
penalty beyond Manuel Neuer in the
Bayern Munich goal to seal the club's
first European Cup in 2012. The veteran
forward scored against Mourinho's
Real Madrid in Istanbul last season and
set up Wesley Sneijder's winner against
Juventus to progress into the knockout
stage at the Italians' expense on
Wednesday, qualification which opens
up the possibility of the 35-year-old
returning to Stamford Bridge.
"He [Drogba] deserves to come
here," said Mourinho when asked
whether he would welcome facing a
forward he admitted had almost given
him "a heart attack" last season. "He
deserves a reception here even better
[than mine], because he deserves much
more than me. He deserves to come
here and get the reception I got against
Hull City [on the opening weekend],
but for Didier double or three times
better and bigger than I had. I know
what I felt. I think he deserves that. So,
yes, Galatasaray is difficult. Very
difficult. But I'd like Didier to be back
here and feel what I felt."
Chelsea won their group – they
beat Steaua Bucharest on Wednesday –
and will therefore be paired with either
Galatasaray, Milan, Olympiakos, Zenit St
Petersburg or Bayer Leverkusen in the
next round. "Of course we look to the
top ones that won the groups, and you
see there the main candidates to win
the competition, the favourites to win
the competition," said Mourinho. "But
in the second position we have difficult
teams. We have champions.
"You have the Russian champions,
the Greek champions. A German team,
Leverkusen, is always very difficult.
The Turkish champions with King
Didier, and Milan are Milan. They only
won it seven times … so it's hard.
When we go to the knockout phase,
things become very tactical one way,
and very emotional in another way. It
will be always difficult. The fact the
second game is at home means nothing.
"But, as I said before, there are
teams in this moment in better
condition to win the competition, or at
least to be considered favourites. It's
easy to understand that Bayern Munich
is a champion – they have the same
team, they played three Champions
League finals in four years. You have
Barcelona, champions three times in
the last five or six years. Real Madrid
have the same players plus Gareth Bale,
and reached three semi-finals in three
years. So it's easy to understand where
the favourites are.
"We have to grow up, step by step.
We go into new matches now for some
of my players. Some of them haven't
played any games in the knockout stage
of the Champions League before – they
played in the group and the Europa
League – so it will be a different
scenario for some of them. Let's go for
the last 16. If we win, we go into the
quarter-final and, with only eight
teams, we can think a different way. I
do not have targets, but we did have
one: not to win the Europa League
again. That target is done. Now we have
to do the best we can in the Champions
League."
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