Mourinho: Celebrations were premature

Jose Mourinho’s touchline sprint after Chelsea’s late UEFA Champions League goal versus Paris Saint-Germain was not celebratory, he insists.

The Portuguese manager ran from his dugout to join his rejoicing Chelsea players after substitute Demba Ba’s 87th-minute strike, which put the hosts ahead on away goals in Tuesday’s quarter-final second-leg tie against the French champions.

But Mourinho revealed that it was not a gesture of joy, rather an attempt to calm his charges down and pass on tactical instructions.

“I didn’t go to the corner flag to celebrate,” he told ITV. “I went to tell them the changes we had to make. There were three minutes plus extra (injury) time left and the way we were playing was too risky.

“I wanted Demba Ba to play in front of the defenders and Fernando Torres to defend Maxwell. I tried to use them in different jobs.”

Mourinho, though, hailed Ba for doing what the hosts had struggled to do throughout despite enjoying plenty of possession – break down the PSG defence.

“I think we did enough at the beginning of the second half to score before we did,” he added.

“The contradiction of what they (PSG) are and what they wanted to do. In the second half it was pure ball possession. But it was difficult for us to penetrate.

“We did it in training yesterday, with three different systems, all of which we used. The players knew what they had to do. Demba Ba made a crucial finish for us.

“It was very much deserved that the team that tried to defend was punished. The team that played with their heart deserved to go through.”

Andre Schurrle, introduced from the bench for the injured Eden Hazard in the first half, had given Chelsea the lead before the break, with Ba proving the unlikely hero late on after a season in which he has often found himself out of favour.