Jose defiant over Frisk

Jose Mourinho today defiantly insisted that referee Anders Fisk was in the wrong for his actions during Chelsea's 2-1 defeat in Barcelona.

There have been claims that the Swiss official met Barca coach Frank Rijkaard in a secret meeting which incensed Chelsea officials.

UEFA head of referees Jermund Nilsson today dismissed Chelsea's allegations saying: "If the referee's observer thought something was wrong he would have said so. I am assured that Frisk did nothing wrong and from what I understand Chelsea have very definitely over reacted."

But Mourinho, while not directly accusing Frisk of meeting Rijkaard, today hit back: "If you are lucky you can speak to one of my assistants and ask him about what happened. I was the first one to leave the pitch and when I left there was no one in front of me. Everything was clear in the tunnel, I saw nothing. But if you ask one of my medical or technical staff, they may want to say something different.

"It is one thing to talk to a referee in a common place like the tunnel where there are 20 other people, but I think it is another thing to communicate with the referee in a private place."

The defeat by Barcelona was Chelsea's second in the space of a week following last Sunday's FA Cup reverse at Newcastle. But ahead of Sunday's Carling Cup final against Liverpool, an indignant Mourinho denied the Blues are experiencing the blip that Manchester United and Arsenal have been waiting for.

He said: "They (Manchester United and Arsenal) can't speak to us about blips because they're not in a better position than us.

"Do they want to change positions? We are top of the league by nine points and in the Carling Cup Final. The only thing they can say they are in a better position than us is the FA Cup."

"In the Champions League, all three teams can either go through or go out, but the one team that is in the best position is Chelsea."

Mourinho denied that the pressure is mounting on him after Chelsea's FA Cup exit and their Champions League reverse.

"Don't try to put pressure on me because I am never under pressure," he warned.

"We have lost one important game this week - at Newcastle - and we're out of the FA cup but I don't think a defeat in a first-leg tie is a real defeat. We are just 2-1 down at half-time."

Asked if his Chelsea honeymoon was now over, Mourinho replied: "I have had 20 years of honeymoons with my wife.

"At the moment I'm very happy here and do not want to say goodbye, but when the club are not happy with me or I am not happy with them then it is the time to go."

William Gallas is an injury doubt for Sunday, but Didier Drogba and Damien Duff have both been passed fit.

Meanwhile, Chelsea's rearranged match with West Brom will be played on Tuesday 15 March. The top-of-the table clash at Manchester United will now be shown live on Sky TV and will kick-off at 12.45pm on Saturday 16 April. Chelsea's home match against Arsenal has moved to Wednesday 20 April.