Demba Ba offered Jose Mourinho a reminder that Chelsea do have “three great strikers” after scoring the goal that propelled the club into a seventh Champions League semi-final in 11 years, at the expense of Paris St-Germain, the team he has supported since his youth.
Chelsea were on the verge of elimination two minutes before Ba was introduced, with Fernando Torres and Samuel Eto’o also on the pitch.
That trio have drawn regular criticism from Mourinho over the course of the campaign, not least after last week’s 3-1 defeat at Parc des Princes when the manager had claimed he lacked any “real” strikers.
“I wasn’t out for revenge,” said Ba in the aftermath. “Maybe he [Mourinho] doesn’t have the strikers to his liking, but I know that we have three great strikers and I think that a lot of clubs would like to have them. I’m happy to have liberated us. I haven’t been given my chance much this season, but I’ve taken this one.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever wished PSG to lose, and it’s me who scores the goal, luckily for Chelsea. I’m happy for Chelsea but it’s hard to see [PSG] lose, especially with one of my best friends, Yohan Cabaye, on the other side. But Eden [Hazard] kept telling me all day: ‘It’s your time tonight.”
”I was a bit scared for the Parisians because, after the third goal in Paris, everyone thought PSG were in the semi-final. Even my younger brothers kept telling me this, and then when Eden went off [with a calf strain] their fans already thought they were in the semi-finals. We heard them [singing]: ‘We’re in the semi-finals.'”
