Mourinho won't walk away
Mourinho insists he will not leave if Chelsea win the Champions League
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Monday, 11, Sep 2006 09:49
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has insisted he will not walk away from the club if they win the Champions League this season.
With the addition of players such as Andriy Shevchenko, the competition's all-time leading scorer, and Michael Ballack over the summer, Chelsea look on paper to have their best chance yet of winning Europe's major club trophy.
The Portuguese boss left Porto after winning the Champions League in 2004 but he insists he will not be repeating his trick again if he lifts the trophy with the Blues.
"If I win the Champions League again, I want to win the Inter-Continental Cup and not gift it to another manager to win it," Mourinho said.
"I made one mistake in Porto and that was to leave when I was European champion."
The Premiership champions begin their Champions League crusade against Germany's Werder Bremen on Tuesday at Stamford Bridge, before facing Levski Sofia and last year's winners Barcelona in their group.
Despite their recent success in England and the strength of their squad, Chelsea were still only second seeds for the tournament and this continues to grate Mourinho.
"For three consecutive seasons, we have had the European champions in our group - first Porto, then Liverpool and now Barcelona," Mourinho added.
"Chelsea need to be first seeds. Why? Because they will have an easier group and if you have easier group matches they are not so competitive and you end the group phase with fewer yellow cards."
Both Claude Makelele and Joe Cole could return to the Chelsea team against Werder Bremen after being rested and recovering from injury respectively.