Mourinho optimistic over Cahill and Costa

Jose Mourinho revealed that Gary Cahill may have suffered a broken nose in Chelsea’s friendly against Barcelona and is optimistic that Diego Costa will not face another spell on the sidelines.

England defender Cahill was withdrawn after taking a blow to the nose when scoring a late equaliser that ensured the International Champions Cup clash in Washington DC on Tuesday ended 2-2, before Chelsea went on to win 4-2 on penalties.

Spain striker Costa featured for an hour before he was replaced by Loic Remy after feeling a twinge in his troublesome hamstring, but Chelsea boss Mourinho was not overly concerned by the injuries to two of his key players.

“Cahill has a chance of a broken nose, maybe yes, maybe no. If no, perfect. If yes, he will get a mask tomorrow to be ready for Sunday [the Community Shield match against Arsenal],” he said.

“Diego felt a little thing in his hamstring. We believe it is just a feeling, no more than that, but we have to wait.”

Mourinho reflected on the entertaining clash at FedEx Field as immensely beneficial to the Premier League champions ahead of the new season. 

“My first thought when I got on the pitch was the amazing colour of the game,” added the Portuguese.

“The crowd was beautiful. The blue guys and the Barcelona people were together. There was lots of colour. The screens were amazing.

“Barcelona were not worried about winning or losing. They were training – the same as us. It was not a tactical game. It was two teams looking for the best intensity, the best form.

“For me it was fantastic. I thanked Luis Enrique a lot for what they gave us. It was just what we needed.

“It was 2-2; it could have been 4-4. The penalties mean nothing for us, nothing for Barca but for the people it means a lot.

“The 70,000 or so people that were here go home happy. It was good promotion for soccer in the US and good for the promotion of our clubs.”