Casillas bears no Mourinho grudge after Porto beat Chelsea

Iker Casillas insists he was ready to greet Jose Mourinho but their paths did not cross as Porto beat Chelsea in the Champions League.

Casillas was making his a record 152nd Champions League appearance for the hosts, who overcame their Premier League opponents 2-1 thanks to goals from Andre Andre and captain Maicon.

The veteran goalkeeper played 150 times for Real Madrid in Europe’s premier club competition, where his relationship with Mourinho was widely reported to have broken down towards the end of the latter’s tenure at the Bernabeu.

But Casillas insisted there were no hard feelings despite not coming into contact with his former boss before or after Tuesday’s encounter at the Estadio do Dragao.

“I did not see him,” Casillas told AS. “If I would have seen him, I’d have hailed him as anyone.”

The 34-year-old conceded to an element of relief at the final score, apportioning some blame to himself for Willian’s free-kick flying into the net on the stroke of half-time.

“I could have done more,” he said. “It was difficult to see the movement of the ball ball, but the responsibility is mine. 

“Fortunately the team got the win.”

Porto have not tasted defeat at their own ground since a 2-0 loss to Benfica in December last year and Casillas was keen to praise the home support.

“The fans have been fantastic and the atmosphere is better every day,” he added. “That translates into results.”