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Chelsea Boss Says Torres Will Fight For Chelsea In Madrid

Jose Mourinho’s grim-faced was a shadow of his usual sparkling on his return to the Madrid, the Spanish capitals as flop Chelsea£50m striker Fernando Torres was mobbed at the airport on his return to face the team where he made his name and the club he still loves.
When asked if the former Liverpool striker will start the Champions League semi-final first leg against Atletico, Mourinho said:

“Those picked to start will be full of motivation for sure,” he said. “I’m not saying Fernando will start.

“I’m saying that he never hides and he is a real Atletico supporter. Every day we speak about Spanish football. But he is a professional.

“I have no doubts that the minutes he is on the pitch he will try to do everything for Chelsea as the fantastic professional that he is.”

But he was unwilling to comment on La Liga leaders Atletico – who are unbeaten in Europe – or their in-demand manager Diego Simeone.

“I study a lot to make my players understand what Atletico is. But I’ve no interest in sharing with you my vision,” he added.

As for Simeone, he said: “It’s not fair to compare a coach with 15 years of with a coach with less.”

Asked what had changed to make him so downbeat, Mourinho said: “Nothing – the weather.”

The Champions League, where the Blues face Atletico Madrid in the semi-final first leg, looks Mourinho’s best chance of a trophy following Saturday’s 2-1 shock home defeat by Sunderland, which saw his proud unbeaten home league record end on 78 games to leave Chelsea trailing leaders Liverpool by five points.

But Mourinho refused to discuss the controversies surrounding Saturday’s game, including the sending-off of his furious assistant Rui Faria.

“My reaction is simple,” he said. “Today and tomorrow are Champions League days.

“It is difficult to speak about the Premier League. You have 19 others teams to do that.

“Today and tomorrow is the Champions League and we are only available to speak about Champions League.”

Mourinho – who has been dodging the press recently – also refused to speak about persistent offender Ramires, who was caught on camera striking Sunderland’s Seb Larsson on Saturday in an incident missed by the referee.

Sounding even more irritated, Mourinho said: “My opinion is the same as before.

“If you want to speak about Premier League you have 19 teams in England for that.

“We are lucky to be involved in the Champions League so in the next two days we don’t think about the Premier League and what happened and what is going to happen because we only think about the big match we have.”

Having lost three league games out of their last six, another defeat and the clouds could be gathering for Mourinho.