Mourinho lifted by Champions League progression

Jose Mourinho’s concerns about Chelsea have eased after their Champions League win over Porto.

Mourinho has come under severe pressure in the first half of the season as Chelsea have struggled for results, with the defending Premier League champions a lowly 14th in the table after last Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to AFC Bournemouth.

However, Chelsea bounced back by beating Porto 2-0 at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, securing top spot in Group G in the process.

The London club will now attempt to build on that success when they take on surprise league leaders Leicester City on Monday.

Asked if being able to focus solely on the league until February – when the Champions League knock-out rounds start – would help his team, Mourinho said: “We need results. Doesn’t matter the competition, we need to win matches, we need to win points.

“We need what we are having now regularly, which is lots of clean sheets, very few goals conceded. We are in this defensive stability now, we need to score more goals. Against Porto, we could have scored five.”

Both Eden Hazard and Diego Costa have found goals difficult to come by this season. Costa has just four to his name after netting 21 times last term, while 2014-15 PFA Player of the Year Hazard has yet to score.

However, Mourinho added: “Sooner or later, goals are coming. Their [Costa and Hazard] performance against Porto was very good, at this moment I’m not as worried as I was.

“The performance on Wednesday, it was like a knock-out match, the answer [to the pressure] was so good, I don’t see any reason not to expect the same answer.”