Jose Mourinho has derided the Europa League, saying it is not Chelsea’s “natural habitat”.
Chelsea begin their Champions League campaign at home against Basle tonight, with Mourinho determined to avoid a repeat of last season when the Blues, under Roberto di Matteo, failed to reach the last 16 for the first time in their history.
That saw them drop into the Europa League and although they won the trophy in May, Mourinho has dismissed their achievement and urged his team to perform much better this time.
He said: “Last season, Chelsea went out of their natural habitat — the Champions League — and into a competition that is not a Chelsea competition. We don’t want to do that again. We don’t want to play Europa League, we want the Champions League.
“Everybody is happy to be back in the Champions League. Nobody, not even the fans in the quarter-finals and semis when Stamford Bridge was half empty, was happy to be in the Europa League. This is the competition everyone wants [to win]. We want to qualify for the next stage of the Champions League.
“Do we want to win the competition, or to reach the semi-finals? We want nothing. I want to qualify, for now, for the next phase. That would be important for everyone, not least for this team of kids. We don’t think the Europa League is the best habitat for players who we want to be big players. They have to play Champions League.”
Tonight’s encounter comes six years to the day since Mourinho’s last in charge of a Champions League game as Chelsea coach. His first spell ended 24 hours after a 1-1 draw against Rosenburg, which was watched by less than 25,000 fans.
The 50-year-old Portuguese, who led the Blues to the semi-finals in 2005 and 2007, added: “We have this group, with Schalke who people don’t know how good they are — I do know — and Basle, who some people think won’t be difficult. They’ll be difficult.”
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, meanwhile, believes his team have the toughest task of all the English clubs in Europe. The Gunners kick off Group F away at Marseille and will also come up against last season’s runners-up, Borussia Dortmund, and Napoli.
“It is the hardest group because all the four teams have a chance to qualify,” he said. “That means every game is basically very important.”
