PARIS: Friday’s Champions League semi-final draw threw up a meeting of two of the great old foes of the European game and kept alive the possibility of a Madrid derby in the final itself.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho might have something to say about that of course, as he leads his side into a last-four clash with Atletico Madrid with his sights set on becoming the first coach to win the European Cup with three different clubs.
As if that were not motivation enough, Mourinho would surely love to create history this year, when the final will be played in his native Portugal, and at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon, where his managerial career began with Benfica at the start of the last decade.
However, he will know not to underestimate Diego Simeone’s Atletico, who ensured that Mourinho’s three-year stint in charge of Real Madrid ended in disappointment when they defeated their city rivals in last season’s Copa del Rey final at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Mourinho’s reputation as a master motivator and tactician is second to none, but Simeone is doing a remarkable job with Atletico, whose budget is modest in comparison to their last-four rivals. The Argentine led Atleti to a 4-1 win against Chelsea in the final of the UEFA Super Cup at the start of last season, and if the prolific Radamel Falcao, a hat-trick hero in that game, has since moved on, the team have coped just fine without him.
Indeed, their success has been built around defensive solidity, and they have conceded only five goals in 10 Champions League games this season.
Perhaps the main reason for that is Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who is on loan at the Vicente Calderon from Chelsea and looks set to play against his parent club after UEFA ruled any clause in his contract preventing him from facing them was against competition rules. — AFP