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Feigning weariness at having to address so many media conferences, Jose Mourinho is at least maintaining a consistent line in limiting expectations: the Premier League table lies, because of Manchester City’s games in hand; and by conceding a late third goal away to Paris Saint-Germain last Wednesday, Chelsea have given themselves a near impossible task to reach the semi-final of the Champions League tomorrow.
Whatever is said for public consumption, the message in the Chelsea dressing room will be rather more upbeat. Mourinho knows that if they keep a clean sheet, a side devoid of what he has called “real strikers” is still capable of scoring twice to qualify on away goals.
Saturday’s 3-0 demolition of an unexpectedly feeble Stoke City to maintain a modicum of pressure on Liverpool and City was good preparation in being so undemanding, producing no new injuries and reasserting a positive mood after successive defeats by Crystal Palace and PSG.
Chelsea: The latest match picturesShow all 63 1 /63Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea: The latest match pictures Cardiff 1 Chelsea 2 Chelsea teammates celebrate with Fernando Torres after his winning goal
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Cardiff 1 Chelsea 2 Fernando Torres scores the Blue's second to complete the turn around
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Cardiff 1 Chelsea 2 David Marshall fails to keep out Andre Schurrle's equaliser
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Cardiff 1 Chelsea 2 Cardiff teammates celebrate after Craig Bellamy's opener
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Cardiff 1 Chelsea 2 Craig Bellamy fires home the opening goal for the home side
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 0 Norwich 0 John Terry applauds the Chelsea crowd at the final whistle
Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 0 Norwich 0 John Terry competes with Johan Elmander for the ball
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 0 Norwich 0 Martin Olsson goes down in the penalty area under the challenge of John Terry
Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 0 Norwich 0 Jose Mourinho looks on from the touchline
Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 0 Norwich 0 Eden Hazard is challenged by Ryan Bennett in the penalty area
Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 0 Norwich 0 Branislav Ivanovic leads the protests after referee Neil Swarbrick turns down Chelsea penalty appeals
Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 0 Norwich 0 Gary Cahill blocks Robert Snodgrass' shot late in the game
Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 0 Norwich 0 Norwich manager Neil Adams acknowledges his players at the final whistle
Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 0 Norwich 0 The Norwich players gather in a huddle before kick-off
Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 1 Atletico Madrid 3 Jose Mourinho admitted he had been outsmarted by Diego Simeone
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 1 Atletico Madrid 3 Captain John Terry can't hold back the tears after Chelsea's Champions League semi-final exit
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 1 Atletico Madrid 3 Arda Turan celebrates after soring Madrid's third
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 1 Atletico Madrid 3 Diego Costa scores from the penalty spot
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 1 Atletico Madrid 3 Jose Mourinho looks on from the sidelines
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 1 Atletico Madrid 3 Fernando Torres celebrates scoring the opening goal with Cesar Azpilicueta
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 1 Atletico Madrid 3 Fernando Torres holds up his hands after scoring, showing respect to beloved former club
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Liverpool 0 Chelsea 2 Willian has the simplest of finishes to make it 2-0 for Chelsea
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Liverpool 0 Chelsea 2 Demba Ba celebrates his goal
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Liverpool 0 Chelsea 2 Demba Ba scores for Chelsea after Steven Gerrard's slip
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Liverpool 0 Chelsea 2 Steven Gerard and Jon Flanagan try to retrieve the ball from Jose Mourinho
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Liverpool 0 Chelsea 2 Tomas Kalas, on his Premier League debut, tackles Raheen Sterling
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 1 Sunderland 2 Sunderland striker Fabio Borini, on loan from Liverpool, scores the winning goal from the penalty spot to hand Jose Mourinho his first Premier League defeat at home
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 1 Sunderland 2 Adam Johnson has a shot at goal
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 1 Sunderland 2 Connor Wickham wheels away after scoring the equaliser
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 1 Sunderland 2 Connor Wickham taps in from close range to level for the Black Cats after Mark Schwarzer spills a shot
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 1 Sunderland 2 Samuel Eto'o celebrate his goal
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 1 Sunderland 2 Samuel Eto'o fires past Vito Mannone to give Chelsea the lead
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 1 Sunderland 2 Ramires and Jack Colback battle for the ball
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Swansea City 0 Chelsea 1 Jose Mourinho appeals for the final whistle
Chelsea: The latest match pictures Swansea City 0 Chelsea 1 John Terry applaud the travelling fans at the end of the match
Chelsea: The latest match pictures Swansea City 0 Chelsea 1 Samuel Eto'o's shot goes wide
Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 2 PSG 0 Jose Mourinho (second from right) celebrates with his players after Demba Ba (bottom left) scored the crucial second goal in the 2-0 win over PSG
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 2 PSG 0 Demba Ba scoops the ball into the roof of the net to send Chelsea through on away goals
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 2 PSG 0 Schurrle is congratulated after scoring Chelsea's first goal
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 2 PSG 0 Eden Hazard is taken off
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 2 PSG 0 Thiago Silva competes for the ball at Stamford Bridge
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 3 Stoke 0 Willian celebrates his goal as Chelsea run out easy winners
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 3 Stoke 0 Brazilian attacker Willian curls in Chelsea's third
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 3 Stoke 0 Frank Lampard celebrates after scoring the rebound from his saved penalty
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 3 Stoke 0 Frank Lampard scores the rebound after Asmir Begovic saves his penalty
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 3 Stoke 0 Andy Wilkinson brings down Mohamed Salah in the box and gives away a penalty
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 3 Stoke 0 The Egyptian winger Mohamed Salah celebrates his goal
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 3 Stoke 0 Mohamed Salah smashes home the Blues' opening goal
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures PSG 3 Chelsea 1 Salvatore Sirigu makes a clearance with Oscar bearing down in this Champions League quarter-final
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures PSG 3 Chelsea 1 Ezequiel Lavezzi celebrates after scoring the opener
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures PSG 3 Chelsea 1 Zlatan Ibrahimovic pictured during the first-leg victory for the French side
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures PSG 3 Chelsea 1 Petr Cech shows his frustration
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures PSG 3 Chelsea 1 Cesar Azpilicueta is challenged by Edinson Cavani
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures PSG 3 Chelsea 1 Eden Hazard scores from the spot to make the score 1-1
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures PSG 3 Chelsea 1 Javier Pastore (bottom left) is mobbed by his team-mates after his late strike made it 3-1
Chelsea: The latest match pictures Crystal Palace 1 Chelsea 0 John Terry walks off the pitch after his own goal gives Crystal Palace the points
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Crystal Palace 1 Chelsea 0 Jose Mourinho tells off a Palace ball boy for time wasting
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Crystal Palace 1 Chelsea 0 John Terry can't believe what he has done as his own goal puts Palace in front
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Crystal Palace 1 Chelsea 0 John Terry heads into his own net
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Crystal Palace 1 Chelsea 0 Nemanja Matic tackles Mile Jedinak
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 6 Arsenal 0 Arsene Wenger complains to the referee during an awful day on his 1000th game in charge of Arsenal
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 6 Arsenal 0 Mohamed Salah celebrates after scoring his first goal for Chelsea and his side's sixth on the day
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Chelsea: The latest match pictures Chelsea 6 Arsenal 0 Chelsea players celebrate as Tomas Rosicky looks away
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All it lacked was a first league goal in three months for Fernando Torres , who will have to start tomorrow’s game as Samuel Eto’o is still unfit. “The team picks itself,” Mourinho said. That means no Mohamed Salah or Nemanja Matic, both excellent against Stoke but ineligible.
If the starting XI need inspiration, they can take it from Chelsea’s recovery from 3-1 down against Napoli two years ago to win the second leg 4-1 after extra time.
Mourinho can also look back at last season’s semi-final in which his Real Madrid side came close to retrieving a 4-1 deficit against Borussia Dortmund. So it was not entirely convincing to hear him describe Tuesday’s task as “almost the impossible job”, and he was prepared to agree that the occasion, at a packed Stamford Bridge, “can be special for sure”.
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