Chelsea's 2-0 victory over Werder Bremen in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night was overshadowed by discussions over Frank Lampard relinquishing penalty-kick duties to newcomer Michael Ballack. Coach Jose Mourinho jumped to defend his star midfielder who had come under heavy criticism for his average form since the World Cup finals. "I think you should treat him with more respect," the hot-tempered Portuguese told reporters in the post-game conference. Specialist Lampard missed a spot-kick against Charlton in the Premiership on Saturday, and when Chelsea won a penalty against Bremen, Ballack stepped up. "I told them if the next penalty after last weekend's miss is crucial for the game, it is better for another player to take the responsibility," Mourinho explained. "But, in the future, if the next penalty comes in a moment where Lamps is cool and in conditions to take it, he will take it again." The Chelsea boss also lashed out at reporters for their continuous attack on the England international. "Maybe people remember that Lampard missed a penalty against Charlton. I remember that over the last two years, he scored more then ten penalties for us, important penalties, crucial penalties, and he never let us down," he added.
Ballack scored his first goal for Chelsea Mourinho went on to attack the referee's decision to show four yellow cards to Chelsea players during the second half. "Look at today's games: Barcelona-Levski, no yellow cards for Barcelona; Bayern Munich, one yellow card; Liverpool, no yellow cards; Valencia, one yellow card; Roma, one yellow card; Chelsea, four yellow cards. But the referee had a good game," he said. John Terry, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole and Didier Drogba were booked against Werder in the Champions League opener, and all the players are one booking away from a ban. As Mourinho struggled to understand the high volume of bookings he suggested that there may be one set of booking rules for European games, and a separate set for English football. "My players are players with a lot of fair play. They don't get yellow cards in English football and in European football they have a lot of cards," he said. "I think if Drogba has to be booked then Diego has to be booked also because it is exactly the same situation: offside followed by a shot. John Terry? Not for me, maybe later, but not that one. And Lampard, I don't think so," he said analyzing the match. Still despite the yellow cards and Mourinho's anger over the media's reaction to Lampard, he was pleased with the result of the game-three points tallied to Chelsea's score. "The result is fantastic because it's three points against a direct opponent for qualification," Mourinho said.
