15th March, 2012
Jose Mourinho, the Real Madrid coach, wants a dream Champions League final against his former club Chelsea after the Spanish side cruised into the quarter-finals.
Nine-time winners Real beat CSKA Moscow 4-1 in the second leg of their last 16 tie for a 5-2 aggregate win with Cristiano Ronaldo grabbing two of the goals.
No sooner had the night’s business been settled, however, than Mourinho was already eyeing Chelsea, who won an extra-time thriller to defeat Napoli, as potential final opponents in May.
“People can’t understand how much I love Chelsea and I know if I get them in the quarter-finals or the semi-finals, they would be great opponents,” said Mourinho, who has been widely-tipped to retake the reins at Stamford Bridge in the summer.
“I’m happy Chelsea have got through, but I’d love to play them in the final.”
The Real coach was also happy to heap more praise on Ronaldo whose brace took his Real Madrid career total to 19 goals in 24 appearances in the Champions League.
The coach added he was happy with his team but underlined how difficult the match had been until Ronaldo got Madrid’s second goal of the evening.
“We suffered more than we should have until the second goal and the game was demanding until the end but all Champions League games are like this,” he said.
“We gave a mature and balanced performance and now we’ll take on whoever the draw pairs us with on Friday (tomorrow).”