Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho accepted his side's elimination from the UEFA Champions League and praised Barcelona whom he described as 'great'. "Barca are a great team and we wish them the best of luck," Mourinho told a press conference after the 1-1 draw on Tuesday. "Last season they watched the quarter-finals on television, this season it is our turn," added the Portuguese, referring to Chelsea's 5-4 aggregate victory over Barcelona in the same stage in 2005. A superb Ronaldinho strike confirmed Barca's place in the last eight before Frank Lampard rescued Chelsea from receiving their second successive defeat against the Catalans when he scored from the spot in the closing stages.
Chelsea's Arjen Robben Mourinho said that the English Champions were almost out of the tie following their 2-1 defeat in London but insisted that Chelsea may have succeeded in making the surprise if they managed to score earlier in the game. "The result at Stamford Bridge was crucial and statistics show that when you lose at home it is very difficult to make such a dramatic U-turn," he said. "Barca played a more defensive game. If we had scored once from the chances from Joe Cole, or Arjen Robben or Hernan Crespo we could have had a chance."
