Chelsea 0-1 Inter: Jose Mourinho was Right—He Doesn't Lose Here

Truly, it was a brilliant football match. I enjoyed the match but not the result. I thought Inter truly deserved their victory. Our ill-luck with the champions league continues—a penalty (which Jose himself agreed) in the first leg and two penalties in the second leg—very sad and also scandalous.

But despite these incidents, over a two-legged tie, I think Inter deserved to go through. Chelsea didn’t play particularly well in either of the legs though they were marginally better in the first leg, while Inter turned up in the second leg and made use of their wild cards to win the tie.

TSO was right. He doesn’t lose at Stamford Bridge. He said he will kill Chelsea and that’s what he’s done. Not many teams do a double over Chelsea in champions league knockout stages, not even Barcelona. The team he put out against Chelsea was a surprise. Starting with three strikers, he ensured that the full backs are always busy and worried. Even the way Inter played this game must have been surprise to some.

Lazy journalists were saying that Inter would park the bus, but they played intelligent football. They played out the first half playing second best and came out to hit us back in the second half.

Here is the declaration from Jose Mourinho:

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"We were the best team by far. Chelsea is a great team, we know that and my team came here knowing very well how they play. We knew if we did not control the game by having the ball we would have no chance. We had the ball and we created the best chances and we should have scored before the goal. When we did score, Chelsea were completely out of the game. I thought everything was superior, not just our tactics but our attitude on the pitch."

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Carlo Ancelotti paid the price for sticking with the out-of-form Anelka. The Frenchman has been playing poorly for three months now. Why would you start him for such an important match as this? Purely on form, Kalou deserves to play ahead of Anelka.

As luck would have it, the best chances fell for Anelka, whose rustiness and lack of sharpness meant corners and goal-kicks instead of goals. Ballack starting the match was also a surprise. When we need to win a match at home, I’d have started Joe Cole in place of Ballack. Carlo’s choice of Ballack over Joe Cole showed that he was under pressure.

Carlo had no choice but to admit that we were second best:

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"We didn’t play how we wanted. They put pressure on our midfielders so we had difficulties playing. Inter played a very good game, with strong defence and good counter-attack. We didn’t play how we wanted. We were a better team in Milan but we were not able to repeat that performance."

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Why would we not play how we wanted? That’s like nearly admitting that he was outclassed and outwitted.

I thought Turnbull was very good. He was very calm and composed. His command of the area was very assuring. Not one moment I thought we’re going to concede because we have a third choice keeper. In fact, with whatever little I have seen of him, he seems to be technically far better than Hilario. I think we should continue with Turnbull even if Hilario is ready.

The pressure must be on Ancelotti. Not because Chelsea has been eliminated but more about the manner of elimination. We had an away goal to start with and had the luxury of playing the second leg at Stamford Bridge and all that we needed was a 1-0 win. It is the manner of losing and drawing that’s painful.

I’m unable to say this Chelsea team gave their all to win this tie. I’m not doubting their commitment but I just feel that Carlo could have got much more from this bunch of players. You wonder what’s missing and why are we weaker since Jose left?

The key thing is our hunger and desire to win. The never-say-die attitude of the players and win-or-die attitude of the manager—this is what we are missing now. With Jose driving out Carlo from Italy and Europe, questions will be asked.

As a fan of Jose Mourinho, I’m happy for him. I’m happy that he got his result. If he was trying to send a message over to Roman, I think he’s done that well enough. He didn’t stay on the pitch for the final whistle. I liked that. He does want to run around the Stamford Bridge pitch hugging his Inter players and consoling Chelsea players. There is still a part of him that’s Chelsea. I love that part.

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"I celebrated a lot in the dressing room once the game was over. I love Chelsea, this stadium, and this people, but I am a professional and who knows I could come back here in the future as the manager of an English club."

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I wish that English club is Chelsea. For the rest of this season’s champions league, I’d support Inter. Hope Jose wins title and stamps Wenger along the way.

But where does this leave us? There’s a premier league title to be won with just nine matches to go. While elimination from the Champions League is never a good thing, this at least means fewer matches to play. More focus + less fatigue + less injuries + the opposite for the rivals = premier league title for Chelsea. Let’s head over to Ewood Park. Reaction time.