Costa has confidence crisis but commitment is evident – Chelsea boss Mourinho

Diego Costa admits he has been unhappy with his start to Chelsea’s season and admits he made a mistake when he threw a bib towards Jose Mourinho.

Chelsea’s defence, which has leaked 24 goals so far, will be in for a busy night in the Midlands as Mourinho’s side try to rescue a season that reached a new low when they lost 1-0 at home to Bournemouth last weekend.

“The bib [incident] is in the past”, he told Spanish radio station Onda Cero after Chelsea qualified for the knockout phase of the Champions League with a 2-0 defeat of Porto.

A 2-0 victory over Porto on Wednesday, secured by Ivan Marcano’s early own goal and Willian’s second-half strike, ensured Chelsea avoided the embarrassment of dropping into the Europa League – and instead advanced as Group G winners.

‘The thing that I’m most happy with, apart from the result, is the fact we needed a point to qualify and the players accepted the challenge of playing to win.

Chelsea take on Porto in the Champions League on Wednesday in what will be a game the west London side simply can not afford to lose, with the pressure on coach Jose Mourinho increasing by the week. I respect whoever has written that but I’ll take with me the good atmosphere around the stadium, then fans supporting the team. Chelsea signed both Costa and left-back Filipe Luis in 2014, but the latter returned to the Estadio Vicente Calderon in the summer after struggling to make an impact.

Despite the likes of Bayern Munich, Zenit St. Petersburg and Barcelona all having guaranteed qualification with a game to spare, it was a night of high drama across Europe, with Arsenal heading to Greece needing to beat Olympiacos by two clear goals.

“In the second half he (Diego Costa) faced the keeper on his own”. When we have been favourites, we haven’t won. I should work onerous and battle, however I know I have time to enhance and I hope I will. “His lack of confidence?”.

Look at where Filipe Luis is (back with Atletico after a year at Chelsea). There is a lack of confidence, clearly, but his attitude was very good and his movement was much better, so goals are coming.

But the players showed their old passing precision and defensive solidity to tame a Porto side who have lost only one game this season – to Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League last month.