Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was in a curt mood on the eve of his team’s Champions League semi-final (first leg) tie with Atletico Madrid and refused to discuss his thoughts on the Spanish side.
He also declined to discuss last Saturday’s controversial Premier League defeat by Sunderland.
The relegation-threatened Black Cats won 2-1 at Stamford Bridge to end Mourinho’s 77-match unbeaten home record in the Premier League and further dent Chelsea’s title hopes.
Mourinho and his assistant Rui Faria, as well as midfielder Ramires, could all face FA raps following incidents during the defeat.
In a statement issued after the match Mourinho made veiled criticisms of the officials and also referees’ chief Mike Riley.
He declined to elaborate yesterday.
The Chelsea manager said: “Today and tomorrow and also Wednesday are Champions League days and if you want to speak about the Premier League you have 19 teams in England that you can speak with.
“Chelsea today and tomorrow is Champions League and we are only available to speak about Champions League.
“We are lucky to be involved in the Champions League, so we are lucky that in the next two days we don’t think about the Premier League and what’s happened and what is going to happen because now we only think about tomorrow.”
Asked how important it is that his players, his staff and he himself keep their composure in the Vicente Calderon Stadium tonight, Mourinho added: “We always behave in relation to the situation.” Ramires’s domestic season could be at a premature end after he caught Sebastian Larsson with an arm, while Faria was sent to the stands for angrily approaching fourth official Phil Dowd.
Mourinho, meanwhile, laced his appraisal of match referee Mike Dean with sarcasm, barely hiding his contempt after Fabio Borini netted the decisive penalty. The comments could lead to Mourinho facing further censure from the FA.
He declined the opportunity to speak about tonight’s referee, the Swede Jonas Eriksson, who was criticised by Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini earlier this season.
“I don’t speak about the referees before the game,” Mourinho said.
“Before the game I always think the referee is there to do his job. And tomorrow I don’t change my mind.
“I hope he has a good game. I hope he’s prepared for the dimension of the game. I hope he’s happy.”
Mourinho was returning to the Spanish capital for the first time since his three-year spell at Real Madrid ended, but declined to speak in Spanish. That was left to David Luiz.
Mourinho was answering questions from the media for the first time since Chelsea reached their seventh Champions League semi-final in 11 seasons with victory over Paris St Germain. But he declined to discuss in detail his thoughts on Atletico.
He said: “It’s with my players that I have to share my opinions about Atletico. I have watched them play lots of times. When we got them in the draw, from that moment I watched them play with better eyes. I try to be ready to make my players understand what Atletico is but I have no interest in sharing with you my vision.”