Chelsea boss relishing trip to face City

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho insisted an FA Cup fifth-round trip to Manchester City was ‘a good draw’ for his team.

The Blues, 1-0 winners against Stoke, must come through a tough test at the Etihad Stadium if they are to reach the quarter-finals.

But Mourinho declared: “Good, that’s good. Our priority for the season is to improve and the best way to improve is to play difficult teams.

“We play against the best team, in a stadium where they win every game and score three or four goals, even against big teams like Arsenal and Tottenham. It’s a good thing for us.

“If we lose we lose against the best, and if we don’t lose it’s fantastic. We are going there with a good attitude and nothing to lose.

“They [City] are a team that are meant to win and they have to feel what we felt when I was first here – that we are the best team and if we don’t win then we have done something wrong.”

Chelsea had far too much for fourth-round opponents Stoke, who avoided a thrashing despite being totally outplayed at Stamford Bridge.

Oscar’s brilliant free-kick was enough to take them through and the Brazilian later hit the woodwork, as did Andre Schurrle.

Mourinho, celebrating his 51st birthday, said: “We are playing very well in my opinion and 1-0 didn’t reflect the quality and the dominance of our game.

“The free-kick obviously made me happy and we hit the post twice. The boys played very well and I’m very happy not just with the result, but also the performance.”

Follow West London Sport on Twitter
Find us on Facebook