Mourinho plays down chances of Europe glory

Chelsea's prospects of winning the Uefa Champions' League for the first time this season are no better than one in 10 - according to their manager, Jose Mourinho.

Speaking with just the hint of a smile on the eve of his side's opening Group A match at home to Werder Bremen, Mourinho was at pains to point out that Chelsea were not the only team that had bought big in the summer.

His list of likely rivals included the holders, Barcelona, who are also in Group A along with Levski Sofia, Real Madrid - "they have bought four or five top class players" - Valencia - "I don't think they come to the Champions' League to make some fun" - Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool - "I think they have bought more players than Chelsea". The man who is seeking to guide his team to a hat-trick of top-flight titles also mentioned Internazionale - "I don't speak of them because in terms of numbers and quality they have the best squad in the world at the moment" - and their neighbours, Milan.

"So how many clubs want to win the Champions' League?" Mourinho asked rhetorically. "For me the minimum is 10. We want to win it. But I think all the others want to win it. We say we want it. Of the others, not many say that. They prefer to be in their corner without all the pressure of having people and the press telling them every day 'You have to win, you have to'.''

Mourinho insists that Chelsea do not need to win their first group match against the team that finished five points behind the German champions, Bayern Munich, last season - but history is in the British team's favour as they have won all four of their opening Champions' League games.

Bremen reached the first knockout round last season, where they lost on away goals to Juventus, but their preparations for this match have hardly been helped by Sunday's defeat in the German Cup against Third Division FK Pirmasens.

Mourinho dismissed the significance of that result yesterday, pointing out that Bremen had fielded a weaker team. He emphasised their potential danger in attack, where they have the German international forward Miroslav Klose and the long-range shooting power of midfielder Torsten Frings, although both players are doubtful with injuries.

Should Chelsea earn a penalty, Mourinho confirmed that the first choice would still be Frank Lampard - who missed from the spot against Charlton at the weekend - rather than Michael Ballack. He confessed to frustration at not having had sufficient time to work with both players in training because of the demands of recent international matches.

He was sanguine, however, about the prospects of his recent purchase from Milan, Andrei Shevchenko, who is due to make his 99th appearance in Uefa club competitions, having scored 56 goals in 98 games so far.

"We have six games in the group matches, and I believe he will score more than one goal," Mourinho said. "But there is no pressure. We want just to qualify."

The Chelsea manager maintained that the standard in the Champions' League had risen from last season but when pressed on his side's chances, he responded in characteristically elliptical form.

"I think Chelsea need to be a first seed in the competition, because then you have an easier group. If the group is difficult, and there is a lot of tension in the matches, you get a lot more yellow cards which make it very difficult in the knock-out phase. But how can we be first seeds? Only by being European champions..."

Chelsea (possible, 4-1-3-2): Cech; Boulahrouz, Terry, Carvalho, Cole; Makelele; Lampard, Ballack, Essien; Shevchenko, Drogba.

Werder Bremen (possible, 4-4-2): Reinke; Fritz, Pasanen, Naldo, Woma; Frings, Borowski, Baumann, Diego; Klose, Klasnic.