Chelsea is traveling to Slovenia to play against the respectable Slovenian Club Maribor in their UEFA Champions League match, The Blues are hoping for good results so they can guarantee qualification for the Champions League knockout rounds with two matches to spare.
Three days before the important clash against Liverpool next Saturday, Chelsea will hope to pick up where they left off two weeks ago against the Slovenians, author of 6-0 just two weeks ago, this match is notable for one thing: Chelsea can guarantee qualification for the Champions League knockout rounds with a win, though José Mourinho was warning his players that this result is highly unlikely to be repeated in Slovenia, even if this result marks a new record scoreline for this competition, edging past the 5-0 away victory recorded at Galatasaray’s Ali Sami Yen in October 1999 and the 6-1 win at home to Danish side Nordsjaelland in December 2012. England Under-18 forward Dominic Solanke also became our youngest Champions League debutant at 17 years and 38 days.
Chelsea is the most confortable team in this Group G, after drawing with Schalke in London in their group stage opener, but they've impressed in wins against Sporting Lisbon and Maribor since then, another win tonight or a win or draw for Schalke against Sporting would extend the Blues’ points total in Group G to 10 which, depending on the other result in our section, means one more point from the two remaining games would secure a knockout phase place, while Jose Mourinho feels a responsibility for Chelsea to perform at their ruthless best in Wednesday night's Champions League Group G clash at Maribor, he believes the 6-0 win over Maribor a fortnight ago will have absolutely nothing to do with tomorrow’s game against the Slovenian side : ‘The 6-0 win is a fake situation because it was the only match, along with the game against Everton, where one chance was one goal,’ explained the Portuguese. ‘Normally, to score goals, we need a lot of chances and many times we’ve paid the price. Against Maribor everything went in our direction, the first opportunity we had was a goal, the second was a goal and so on.
The boss also talked about his ‘remarks’ about Stamford Bridge atmosphere in thir last game against QPR, when a journalist asked him at the press conference that he took with Branislav Ivanović, he was still unhappy about it, Jose Mourinho says he "loves the club" and asks fans to understand that any criticism of them comes from his viewpoint that he would want to help his side :
‘Everybody knows how much I love the club, how much I want the club to
improve and how much I want to be part of the club for the future' he said.
‘When everybody knows that, even a moment of criticism has to be
analysed with different eyes, with the eyes of someone who knows why I came
back to Chelsea, why I’m here with my heart and why I want to stay for a long
time.
‘I’m just somebody that loves
football a lot, I love my job and I’m lucky to do my job at a club I like so
much and have such a connection. Maybe that makes me lead the club with a
different kind of emotion. ’
The press conference ended with Mourinho explaining what he’d said to Maribor sporting director Zlatko Zahovic, one of Slovenia’s greatest ever players, and someone he knows after Zahovic played in Portugal, following the game at Stamford Bridge.
NK Maribor injuries and suspensions
Out: Aleksander Rajčevič (head) In doubt: Agim Ibraimi (illness), Aleš Mejač (hamstring), Željko Filipović (illness)
Chelsea injuries and suspensions
Out: none In doubt: Diego Costa (hamstring), Loïc Rémy (groin), John Obi Mikel(knee)
Match Date/Time: Wednesday, 8:45 p.m., 2:45 p.m. ET
Venue: Ljuski vrt, Maribor, Slovenia
TV: Fox Soccer Plus (U.S. - English), Sky Sports 1/HD (U.K.), Sportsnet World (Canada), SportKlub 1 (Slovenia), beIN Sports 4 HD (AR, ENG)
Online: Fox Soccer 2GO (U.S.), Sky Go (U.K.), Sportsnet World Now (Canada)
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