Football
Kevin Palmer 9y

Jose Mourinho: Chelsea performance was not good enough

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho put Paris Saint-Germain's win in the Champions League on Wednesday night down to the fact the Ligue 1 club showed aggression and coped better with the pressure of the game.

Chelsea were eliminated against 10-man PSG, who twice came from behind to win an ill-tempered last-16 tie on away goals at Stamford Bridge.

"I want to discuss that with the players tomorrow and see the game in a calm way," the Portuguese said. "I want to see their feelings, I want to know what they felt on the pitch and we must try to find conclusions about our performance. Our performance wasn't good enough.

"Of course we have the game in our hands twice but the opponent was stronger than us. They coped better with the pressure of the game.

"Maybe because they were with 10 men we felt even more the pressure of winning and they had nothing to lose. They were just playing their game.

"We conceded two goals from two set pieces where the organisation is clear and it's absolutely decided the players are in the zone. We conceded two goals that are difficult to accept."

When asked about PSG's style of play, Mourinho added: "They were aggressive the same way [as in Paris].

"They are what we used to call, in our side of the continental Europe, they were clever. In England that is not accepted as clever, intelligent, experienced people.

"I wouldn't say dirty, but this is a great part of the game."

Mourinho went on to say that Laurent Blanc's men coped better with the pressure and that Chelsea did not respond well to having an extra man for the majority of the match.

"We had the game in our hands twice [when Chelsea took a lead] and they coped better with the pressure of the game. We couldn't cope with that, we concede two goals in two set pieces and that is difficult to accept.

"Last season we lost [the first leg] in Paris 3-1 and had one direction to go and that direction was without any pressure because the game was lost. Today with the 1-1, it was a dangerous result. We tried to win in this game, but the moment we had 10 men we felt too much that pressure."

Mourinho was scathing in his assessment of his players, whose spirits he must raise for Sunday's clash with Southampton as the Blues resume their bid for a first Premier League title in five years.

"We didn't deserve to go through," Mourinho said. "When a team cannot defend two corners and concedes two goals, a team doesn't deserve to win.

"The individual performances were not good enough and when you concede two goals from two corners it's about lack of concentration, lack of responsibility to cope with the markers and the space you have to control.

"When a team cannot cope with the pressure of being one player more and playing at home... we couldn't cope with that pressure.

"We deserved to be punished with this draw, defeat."

PA Sport contributed to this report.

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