Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has confirmed that he wants to field a weakened team in Sunday’s Premier League game against Liverpool.
The Portuguese boss has set his sights on a place in the Champions League final after an away 0-0 draw in the first leg of the semifinal tie against Atletico Madrid.
The Blues’ defeat at home to Sunderland last weekend hit their hopes of winning the Premier League title, and those aspirations suffered further following the news that goalkeeper Petr Cech and club captain John Terry will miss the remainder of the domestic campaign.
So Mourinho is eager to turn his focus onto the second leg of his side’s Champions League semifinal against Atletico Madrid at Stamford Bridge next Wednesday and not this weekend’s trip to Anfield.
Chelsea’s game against Liverpool is crucial to the destiny of this season’s Premier League title, with Manchester City needing Brendan Rodgers’ Reds to slip up in one of their final three games to open the door for them to get back into the race for top spot.
“We have to think, we have to speak, we have to speak internally. There is a few decisions to take for the next match that I can’t take by myself,” said Mourinho.
Chelsea’s manager bemoaned the refusal of Liverpool to play their game on Saturday instead of the originally scheduled Sunday date, which would give Chelsea players extra time to rest before Champions League.
Mourinho went on to offer further comment on the issue in his post-match news conference, as he pointed accusing fingers at the authorities running the Premier League.
“We represent English football and we are the only English team that is European competition,” he added. “Spain has four and gave them all the conditions to try to have success.
