super cup defeat saddens Mourinho

Super Cup defeat
saddens ’Unlucky’
Mourinho
on august 31, 2013 at 8:18
am insports
PRAGUE (AFP) – Jose
Mourinho has insisted he
is ‘unlucky’ after ten-man
Chelsea lost 5-4 on
penalties to Pep
Guardiola’s Bayern Munich
in Friday’s UEFA Super
Cup final in Prague.
European champions
Bayern needed a 121st-
minute equaliser from
Spain’s Javi Martinez to
take the game to penalties,
after it finished 2-2 in extra
time, as the Bavarians
avenged their 2012
Champions League final
defeat at the hands of
Chelsea in Munich.
When Chelsea
replacement Romelu
Lukaku missed the 10th
spot-kick after the
previous nine successful
attempts, it meant Bayern
finally lifted the Super Cup
at the fourth attempt to
leave Chelsea boss
Mourinho disgruntled.
Mourinho
“When Martinez scored
the goal, I felt it was
undeserved. The best
team lost, but that is
football, no problem,” said
the 50-year-old.
Having returned for his
second stint at Stamford
Bridge in June after
coaching Real Madrid,
Mourinho slammed
Swedish referee Jonas
Eriksson for the 85th-
minute dismissal of
Chelsea midfielder
Ramires for a second
yellow card.
“There is a passion for
football and if you are in
love with the game, you
don’t kill a final with a
second yellow card like
this,” said Mourinho.
“For me, yes, (the player
should not have been
punished) because there
were many other yellow
cards during the match
which the referee didn’t
give.”
But the self-appointed
“special one” insisted he is
no stranger to playing
with ten men in major
competitions and
bemoaned his misfortune.
“This is nothing new for
me, the last time I was at
Chelsea we played a
Champions League semi-
final two or three times
against Barcelona with ten
men,” moaned Mourinho.
“I went to (coach) Inter
Milan and played one hour
of a Champions League
semi-final with ten men
against Barcelona.
“I go to Real Madrid, I
played again a Champions
League semi-final with ten
men, I come back to
Chelsea and I play a Super
Cup final with ten men.
“You all should analyse
the games and draw your
conclusions — I am
unlucky.”
Having enjoyed his eighth
win over Mourinho in
their 16th duel on the
sidelines, ex-Barcelona
coach Guardiola praised
his predecessor Jupp
Heynckes who steered
Bayern to the treble of
European, cup and league
titles last season.
“I want to thank Jupp
Heynckes for the chance
to play here in this final,
it’s down to him that we
are here,” said Guardiola.
“It was a super, super,
super effort to take the
game to penalties, we are
very happy, but one
second changed
everything,” added the
Spaniard, after Bayern had
37 goal attempts
compared to Chelsea’s 14.
“For me, the team played
unbelievably well, we had
more than 30 chances
and I have seen how
important it was for them,
they won everything last
season and they want
more. I am really happy
for them.”
Guardiola disagreed with
Mourinho’s insistence that
the best team lost in
Prague.
“I believe the best team
won, we creating a huge
amount of goal
opportunities,” said the
Bayern boss.
“Chelsea have so much
experience with the likes
of (Petr) Cech, (Frank)
Lampard, (John) Terry
and (Ashley) Cole, they
had their chances, but we
deserved the win.”
Both Guardiola and
Mourinho played down
their rivalry.
“I have great respect for
him as a coach and he
knows that,” said
Guardiola of Mourinho.
“We have played many
times against each other
— some you win, some
you lose, but he knows I
respect him.”