Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho said that his team's chances in advancing to the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League are still alive. The Premiership champions were held to a 1-1 in the first-leg of the quarter-final game that took place at Stamford Bridge, but Mourinho insisted the tie was “still open”. "It is 1-1. It is not 0-3,” the Portuguese tactician told reporters after the game that saw Didier Drogba save face for Chelsea by scoring the equalizer that cancelled out David Silva's fantastic first-half strike. "I believe they believe they are in a better position now because they are at home (in the second leg) but why not win in Valencia or get a draw and go into extra time? "We need to play well. We know the atmosphere we will get there so we need a good referee too. We can go to Valencia and reach the semi-finals," he insisted. But Mourinho admitted the visit to Mestalla Stadium would be no walk in the park for the Blues. “Of course it's difficult, because they are a good team and they are playing at home,” he said. "A team that plays at home normally has the advantage and I imagine that the Valencia players feel more comfortable at the Mestalla than here.
Mourinho played down the prospect of Chelsea being ousted from the European competition for the third year in a row. He jokingly said that he would have other things to do if his team does not feature in the semi-finals. "It is not my biggest challenge. If we win we go to the semi-final, if we lose I go to Earl Court for the (WWE) wrestling. It is April 24, the same day as the semi-final. So if I don't go to the semi-final, I go to the wrestling with my kids." Valencia coach Enrique Sanchez Flores was excited about the hard fought draw at Stamford Bridge and relishing the prospect of ousting Chelsea in Spain. "We've got objective one achieved, which was to take the game into the second leg, so the tie will be settled in the Mestalla, rather than here. So that's good," he said. Flores said that his team will not be playing a defensive game against Chelsea on Tuesday. "We will have a more offensive approach because we will be playing at home and David Villa will have a bigger role to play. At home we will see the attacking side of David and he will be creating chances for himself. "We are going to set up in the same way we did in the second leg against Inter Milan in the last round. We will try to forget we have scored a goal. "It would be foolish to try and sit back and defend against a team like Chelsea," he added.
