Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Chelsea 2 PSG 0: Demba Ba denies he was out for 'revenge' but offers reminder to Jose Mourinho of his abiities

Ba scored the dramatic second goal in the 87th minute at Stamford Bridge

Sam Wallace
Wednesday 09 April 2014 11:37 BST
Comments
Demba Ba scoops the ball into the roof of the net
Demba Ba scoops the ball into the roof of the net (Getty Images)

Chelsea’s forgotten man, striker Demba Ba scored the decisive goal for Jose Mourinho’s team to take them into the Champions League semi-finals tonight, and later said that his manager should remember that he had three strikers many clubs would like to have at their disposal.

Asked whether he had done it for "revenge", Ba said: "I'm not out for revenge, maybe he [Mourinho] doesn't have 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."

The Senegal international is a Parisian by birth and a PSG fan and said that the French club had made the mistake of believing they had done enough to reach the semi-finals in the first leg win.

Ba said: "I'm happy, I'm happy to have got us out of jail. I haven't been given my chance much this season and I've taken it. It's the first time I've 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 then lose, especially with one of my best friends, Yohan Cabaye, on the other side."

He added: "Eden [Hazard] kept telling me all day, 'It's your time tonight, 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 they [the PSG fans] already thought they were in the semi-finals. When Eden came off we heard [them singing] 'We're in the semi-finals'."

Hazard came off in the first half with what Mourinho said was a "muscular" injury to his calf that could take "weeks" out of the Belgian winger’s season. Chelsea took the lead through Hazard’s replacement, Andre Schurrle in the first half. The Chelsea manager ran half the length of the pitch in the aftermath to Ba’s goal.

"It was not to celebrate," Mourinho said. "It was to tell the players how we had to play the last ten minutes. I knew at that moment they wanted to celebrate, to think the game is over. They forget that they had three plus three or four more minutes to play, and the way we were playing we couldn't carry on winning 2-0. I had to go there because it would be the only chance I'd have to tell Demba, Fernando and Schurrle what to do in the last seven minutes. But you could see I can still run ..."

Jose Mourinho warns his players of their defensive responsibilities (PA)

He added: "We are in the semi-finals. If the quarter-finals had eight fantastic teams, imagine the four that are going to reach the semi-finals. Anything can happen. A big opponent is waiting for us in the semi-final, but I think it doesn't matter who. They know we are a team with a special spirit, even if we are not in the maximum of our potential."

Asked whether he would like to face his former club Real Madrid he said: "No, it doesn't matter. Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico, Bayern, Manchester United, it doesn't matter."

On Hazard, Mourinho said: "When he comes off after 10 minutes, he was saying he couldn't do it. It's a calf. So normally it's a muscular problem, so you cannot play for normally a couple of weeks. Minimum. But I have no idea as yet."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in