Champions League: Mourinho Discusses Diego Costa’s Uninspiring Performance

Chelsea star Diego Costa admits he made a mistake by throwing a bib at manager Jose Mourinho but has played down reports of a rift with the Special One.

“The Premier League boss said in an interview it would be good for the league if Chelsea were not champions, but he didn’t say it’s not good for the Premier League if Chelsea finish fourth, so while mathematically it’s still possible let’s fight for every game and every point and see if it’s possible to finish fourth”. “Results don’t say we aren’t committed to the manager”, the Belgian told the club’s website (www.chelseafc).

“We will play to win”. Against teams outside the bottom five, meanwhile, Chelsea have won only two out of 11 and lost seven.

Chelsea can play Paris Saint-Germain – for a third straight season – PSV Eindhoven, Benfica, Juventus, Roma or Gent in the next round.

In Bayern’s case in particular, they are relieved of the suffocating week-to-week intensity that Premier League clubs have to endure, allowing Pep Guardiola to keep players fresh for the Champions League at little or no risk to his club’s dominance in the Bundesliga.

Whether he will still be in charge when the competition resumes in February will depend on an improvement in domestic affairs, but Costa believes Mourinho is not at fault for their miserable season so far.

“Now Casillas can win the only trophy he hasn’t won: the Europa League”, Mourinho said.

Defeat would have seen Chelsea drop into the Europa League and might have cost Mourinho his job. He was the subject of the first managerial vote of confidence of Roman Abramovich’s 12-year ownership on October 5, but fortunes have scarcely improved since.

The former Atletico Madrid man had a hand in the opening goal when his saved shot was deflected into the Porto net by Ivan Marcano and, after shaking hands with Mourinho when he was substituted in the 86th minute, the striker expressed regret for his earlier actions and admitted he needs to get back to his best form.

Jose Mourinho reacts during Chelsea’s victory on Wednesday night in the Champions League at Stamford Bridge.

Do you think Costa tries to push the limits too much when he is on the field? Leverkusen couldn’t manage more than a 1-1 home draw against already qualified Barcelona as Lionel Messi scored his 80th goal in the tournament.

Spanish striker Diego Costa was returned to Mourinho’s starting line-up, and although acknowledging his lack in confidence in front of goal, was pleased with the forward’s performance.

Costa arrived at Chelsea from Atletico Madrid for £32 million in July previous year but his struggles this season have sparked rumours he could be heading back to the Vicente Calderon. This season he couldn’t.

Olivier Giroud was the hero for the Gunners, scoring a hat-trick to ensure his side snuck into second place behind Bayern Munich in Group F. The Germans beat Dinamo Zagreb in the other game 2-0, with the in-form Robert Lewandowski continuing his impressive scoring run with a brace. And when he looks to the linesman he loses one important second or fraction and then his last touch on the ball is not the best touch. We were more calm, more relaxed, the players could be in control of the game and the situation for Porto was more hard’.