Jose Mourinho desperate to qualify for Champions League knockout phase before Chelsea's final group game

Get the job done: Mourinho oversaw defeat to Porto in Chelsea's last Champions League game
Simon Johnson19 October 2015

Jose Mourinho has warned his players not to make Chelsea’s place in the Champions League knockout stage go down to the wire.

Chelsea take on Dynamo Kiev tomorrow, with their last-16 hopes at risk following their 2-1 defeat in Porto last time out. It has left them trailing both Kiev and Porto, who now face a weak Maccabi Tel Aviv outfit home and away, by a point.

Chelsea are struggling in the Premier League, despite their 2-0 win against Aston Villa on Saturday, and Mourinho doesn’t want Europe to become a strain, too.

He said: “The Champions League is getting dangerous, with the coefficients and the new formats in the groups. There are difficult teams to play against and we have to try not to go to the last match with our destiny in doubt. If we can go to Kiev and get a positive result, then play them 15 days later at Stamford Bridge, it will be good.”

The Blues have not been at their best all season but Mourinho says his players can fight on all fronts if they rediscover their top form in Europe.

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“The Champions League demands everything from a player,” he added. “When players show they are ready for it, they are ready for everything.”

However, Mourinho fears his men could be at a disadvantage against Dynamo because of playing Aston Villa a day after the Ukrainians lost 3-0 against Shakhtar Donetsk.

He said: “We are losing 24 hours to Dynamo. We have to try to recover that with other ingredients, [like] fantastic spirit.”

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