Joy didn’t launch Jose Mourinho down the sidelines during Chelsea’s victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday. Mourinho’s sense of duty did.
Mourinho took off running in apparent ecstasy after Demba Ba’s 87-minute goal landed Chelsea in the Champions League semifinals, but the Chelsea coach said he ran to tell his players what to do in the final minutes of the game.
Ba’s goal gave Chelsea a 2-0 lead in the game and tied the aggregate score at 3-3, allowing the Blues to edge PSG on the away goals.
“Not to celebrate,” Mourinho said. “(I ran) to tell Fernando (Torres) and Demba the changes that we had to do because we had three minutes, plus extra time.”
Mourinho’s sideline sprint was reminiscent of famous ones he took on previous occasions. Then Porto head coach Mourinho darted down the field at Old Trafford after his team scored the decisive goal in its Champions League Round-of-16 win against Manchester United.
Mourinho, then head coach of Inter Milan, took another dash in 2010 after the Italian club edged Barcelona in the semifinal of the same competition.
On each occasion, Mourinho’s behavior riled opponents on each occasion. This time, however, he sprinted on his own turf — Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge.
See Mourinho’s latest sprint below.
Mourinho discusses his sideline sprint and Chelsea’s victory in the video below.
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