Journalism of Courage
Chelsea’s remarkable record against Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge was of no interest to manager Jose Mourinho as he prepared for Wednesday’s London derby. Mourinho’s club have not been beaten at home by Spurs since 1990 when former England marksman Gary Lineker scored one of the goals in a 2-1 victory.
The Chelsea manager seemed to be oblivious to the recent results between the teams on the eve of the match. When Mourinho was informed at a news conference that Lineker was on target the last time Spurs won at The Bridge, he replied with a smile: “So, tomorrow he can’t”.
On a more serious note, the Portuguese added: “I don’t know the record…and I don’t speak to the players about it because it’s not important. It’s a big game, a London derby, against one of the top teams in the league, we like it. That’s what we have to think about. We have to think it’s a difficult match and we have to be ready for it,” Mourinho said.
Chelsea, who go into the game against Spurs holding a six-point lead at the top of the Premier League, will be without leading scorer Diego Costa after he received his fifth yellow card of the season in Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Sunderland. “It doesn’t affect us,” said Mourinho. “We trust Loic Remy and Didier Drogba the same way we trust Diego Costa.”
Chelsea dropped league points for only the third time this season but Mourinho said the mood among his players had not changed. “The reaction has been normal,” he added. “What do you want the team to do or to feel when the team is doing the perfect season? We’re top of the Premier League, top of the group in the Champions League and in the quarterfinals of the Capital One Cup. We’ve not lost one match for four months so the team has to feel very very good.”
Chelsea will stretch their unbeaten start to the season to 21 matches if they avoid defeat against seventh-placed Spurs.
City never out of title fight
Manchester City were never out of the title race and the Premier League champions did not need to change their style despite a frustrating to start the season, manager Manuel Pellegrini said on Tuesday.
City produced a fine attacking display to beat high-flying Southampton 3-0 at St Mary’s on Sunday, a result which lifted them above the Saints into second in the table and closed the gap on leaders Chelsea to six points.
Pellegrini’s rejuvenated side, who have won their last three matches in all competitions, travel to the Stadium of Light on Wednesday to face a Sunderland team who drew 0-0 with Jose Mourinho’s table-topping Chelsea on Saturday.
“We were never out of the fight for the title,” Pellegrini told a news conference. “We have to play a lot more games and there are too many points to play for. I said before these three games, we weren’t playing too badly. Maybe we made some mistakes but we did not change our style and our trust.”
Kompany in doubt
City captain Vincent Kompany injured his hamstring against Southampton and is doubt to face Sunderland, while his centre back partner Eliaquim Mangala is suspended after being sent off against the Saints. In the absence of Belgium international Kompany and French defender Mangala, Dedryck Boyata and Bacary Sagna could start alongside Martin Demichelis in the heart of the City defence. “
We’ll know this afternoon (Tuesday) exactly what Vincent has,” said Pellegrini, who will also be without injured trio Aleksandar Kolarov, David Silva and Edin Dzeko for the trip to Sunderland. “He has an injury to his hamstring – we’ll see how long it’ll be. We have Boyata working well, we have Demichelis and we have Sagna. We have options and we’ll see which two of them will play.”
Having drawn 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium last season, the City boss is aware of the threat posed by Gus Poyet’s 13th-placed side.
City have failed to win in their last five trips to the Stadium of Light and have beaten Sunderland only once in their last six league meetings. “Sunderland are a tough team to play against – they defend well,” Pellegrini said. “We hope we will have more luck there this year. They have a very good manager who knows the Premier League.”
Atletico cut ties with ultras after fan death
MADRID: Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone has called for an end to football-related violence as his team prepare to play their first game since the death on Sunday of a Deportivo La Coruna fan near the Atletico stadium.
The 43-year-old supporter had to be pulled out of the Manzanares river following what appeared to be an organised street battle between groups of radical fans known as “ultras” and died later in hospital.
Police, who have come under criticism for not doing more to prevent the violence, are seeking the culprits and the Spanish government, soccer authorities and clubs have vowed to banish ultras from stadiums and their surroundings.
Atletico said on Tuesday they had decided their main ultras organisation, the Frente Atletico, members of which were involved in Sunday’s fighting, would no longer be considered an official fan group.
Their banners and flags would be banned from the Calderon stadium, the club added.
Deportivo announced they would close off a section of their stadium occupied by the Riazor Blues ultras, some of whom also took part in the fighting, for their next two matches.
Atletico’s King’s Cup last-32, first leg at third-tier Hospitalet on Wednesday is one of three matches this week to have been declared “high risk” by a government anti-violence commission. Deportivo’s game at home to Malaga on Wednesday and Valencia’s match at Rayo Vallecano on Thursday are the others.
Ultras linked to Rayo were also involved in Sunday’s fighting, police said.
“We condemn violence in every sense of the word and we hope that the people who are working on this can find a solution,” Simeone told a news conference on Tuesday. “Hopefully, people will be able to go to a football stadium in peace,” the Argentine added.
Spain coach Vicente del Bosque added his voice to widespread condemnation of the troublemakers. “I imagine that the Deportivo fans talk about football things, such as which player is going to play, but to talk about meeting up to fight by the river is difficult to fathom,” Del Bosque said.
“And the same with the Atletico fans. I don’t think this has anything to do with sport and it seems they are using sport to make a greater impact.”
