Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho on Tuesday hit out at the “philosophers” who have decried his tactical approach, ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League semi-final second leg at home to Atletico Madrid.
Chelsea were accused of negativity after their 2-0 win at Liverpool on Sunday, with beaten manager Brendan Rodgers claiming that their strategy had been “defensive” and “not difficult to coach”.
However, Atletico coach Diego Simeone defended Chelsea’s counter-attacking style on Tuesday, asserting “there is not one way to play football”, and Mourinho said that criticism from pundits had been targeted and unfair.
“Football in this moment is full of philosophers, full of people who understand much more than me, full of people with fantastic theoretical philosophies. Amazing,” he said.
“But the reality is always the reality. A team that doesn’t defend well doesn’t have many chances to win. A team that doesn’t score lots of goals, if it concedes lots of goals, is completely in trouble.
“A team without balance is not a team and after that, I can’t say much more than this.”
He added: “In my first period here, I remember saying that if you have a goalkeeper like Petr Cech who puts the ball in the opponents’ box and a striker like Didier Drogba who wins every ball in the air, why do you play short? Because you are stupid.
“If the opponent is very fast and needs space behind your defence, and you give them that space, you are stupid.
“So when a team plays strategically and thinks about the qualities of the team and the qualities of the opponents, 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago, (they were considered a) good team, intelligent team.
“In this moment, depending on the coach and the club, obviously, the critics, they speak. But no problem.”
Mourinho also claimed that Rodgers, who worked under him as a reserve and youth-team coach during his first stint as Chelsea manager, had called him on Tuesday to make peace.
“Of course I know his words after the match, but I also know his words today. And today he told me: ‘Congratulations for a great victory and a great performance,’” Mourinho said.
“Especially because I consider him a friend, and I like him, I prefer to forget his words after the match and I keep the words from today.
“He’s an intelligent guy and I’m sure after the match he watched the match on video and I think now he understood what happened.”
Mourinho revealed that John Terry and Eden Hazard will both be fit to face Atletico, but said that goalkeeper Petr Cech, who dislocated his shoulder in the first leg, was not in the right condition to play despite making an unexpected appearance at training earlier on Tuesday.
Chelsea emerged from the first leg with a 0-0 draw after a disciplined defensive display and Mourinho predicted another cagey encounter at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.
“In this moment, this is a clean result: 0-0, one possibility or the other,” said the Portuguese.
“We play at home, but a draw with goals is good for them, and not for us, so you can’t even say which one is the advantage.
“A 0-0 is a 0-0. Playing at home is to play at home. But to have the advantage of a draw with goals is good for them.”
He added: “Some matches are special matches. The match every player wants to play is the Champions League final, but the next match is the second leg of the Champions League semi-final.
“So, if tomorrow we have the chance of the second match, we enjoy and after the game, let’s see if we go to Lisbon (for the final) or not.
“I’ll go for sure, in the summer, but let’s see if we can go together!”
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The specs
Engine: Single front-axle electric motor
Power: 218hp
Torque: 330Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 402km (claimed)
Price: From Dh215,000 (estimate)
On sale: September
SHAITTAN
Director: Vikas Bahl
Starring: Ajay Devgn, R. Madhavan, Jyothika, Janaki Bodiwala
Rating: 3/5
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
Kill
Director: Nikhil Nagesh Bhat
Starring: Lakshya, Tanya Maniktala, Ashish Vidyarthi, Harsh Chhaya, Raghav Juyal
Rating: 4.5/5
if you go
The flights
Emirates flies to Delhi with fares starting from around Dh760 return, while Etihad fares cost about Dh783 return. From Delhi, there are connecting flights to Lucknow.
Where to stay
It is advisable to stay in Lucknow and make a day trip to Kannauj. A stay at the Lebua Lucknow hotel, a traditional Lucknowi mansion, is recommended. Prices start from Dh300 per night (excluding taxes).
Company Profile
Name: HyveGeo
Started: 2023
Founders: Abdulaziz bin Redha, Dr Samsurin Welch, Eva Morales and Dr Harjit Singh
Based: Cambridge and Dubai
Number of employees: 8
Industry: Sustainability & Environment
Funding: $200,000 plus undisclosed grant
Investors: Venture capital and government
COMPANY PROFILE
Company: Eco Way
Started: December 2023
Founder: Ivan Kroshnyi
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Electric vehicles
Investors: Bootstrapped with undisclosed funding. Looking to raise funds from outside
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 0
Wolves 2 (Traore 80', 90+4')
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Tickets for the August 3 Fight Night, held in partnership with the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi, went on sale earlier this month, through www.etihadarena.ae and www.ticketmaster.ae.
Moving Out 2
Developer: SMG Studio
Publisher: Team17
Consoles: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4&5, PC and Xbox One
Rating: 4/5
Company profile
Company name: Fasset
Started: 2019
Founders: Mohammad Raafi Hossain, Daniel Ahmed
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $2.45 million
Current number of staff: 86
Investment stage: Pre-series B
Investors: Investcorp, Liberty City Ventures, Fatima Gobi Ventures, Primal Capital, Wealthwell Ventures, FHS Capital, VN2 Capital, local family offices
Winners
Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski
Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea
Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona
Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)
Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)
Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
Best National Team of the Year: Italy
Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello
Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)
Player Career Award: Ronaldinho
yallacompare profile
Date of launch: 2014
Founder: Jon Richards, founder and chief executive; Samer Chebab, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jonathan Rawlings, co-founder and chief financial officer
Based: Media City, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: 120 employees
Investors: 2014: $500,000 in a seed round led by Mulverhill Associates; 2015: $3m in Series A funding led by STC Ventures (managed by Iris Capital), Wamda and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority; 2019: $8m in Series B funding with the same investors as Series A along with Precinct Partners, Saned and Argo Ventures (the VC arm of multinational insurer Argo Group)
The five pillars of Islam
Five calorie-packed Ramadan drinks
Rooh Afza
100ml contains 414 calories
Tang orange drink
100ml serving contains 300 calories
Carob beverage mix
100ml serving contains about 300 calories
Qamar Al Din apricot drink
100ml saving contains 61 calories
Vimto fruit squash
100ml serving contains 30 calories
Tenet
Director: Christopher Nolan
Stars: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Dimple Kapadia, Michael Caine, Kenneth Branagh
Rating: 5/5
IPL 2018 FINAL
Sunrisers Hyderabad 178-6 (20 ovs)
Chennai Super Kings 181-2 (18.3 ovs)
Chennai win by eight wickets
Specs
Power train: 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 and synchronous electric motor
Max power: 800hp
Max torque: 950Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Battery: 25.7kWh lithium-ion
0-100km/h: 3.4sec
0-200km/h: 11.4sec
Top speed: 312km/h
Max electric-only range: 60km (claimed)
On sale: Q3
Price: From Dh1.2m (estimate)
Hotel Data Cloud profile
Date started: June 2016
Founders: Gregor Amon and Kevin Czok
Based: Dubai
Sector: Travel Tech
Size: 10 employees
Funding: $350,000 (Dh1.3 million)
Investors: five angel investors (undisclosed except for Amar Shubar)