Why so glum?
The Blues are just a point away from winning the group, but Mourinho seems preoccupied with lesser issues
GROUP G
MACCABI TEL AVIV 0
CHELSEA 4
(Gary Cahill 20, Willian 73, Oscar 77, Kurt Zouma 90)
Amid the high-fives and beaming smiles, Jose Mourinho remained typically morose.
On an evening when Chelsea's qualification for the Champions League's Round of 16 was virtually assured following a first away victory in the competition for over 12 months, the one-time Special One continued to decline the chance to bask in the afterglow of his side's rare moment in the sun.
Willian's transformation from relative underachiever to Europe's deadliest set-piece taker, with a fourth goal from five attempts in the Champions League this season, went unheralded.
So, too, did Gary Cahill's omnipresence among the competition's scoring charts over the past four seasons, a feat which set the wheels of Chelsea's victory in motion.
The late flurry from his attacking charges that transformed a routine outcome into a clinical rout, similarly, received minimal acclaim from Mourinho.
POSITIVES
Rather than accentuating the positives of how the emphatic win over Maccabi Tel Aviv yesterday morning (Singapore time) had left his side requiring a solitary point from their final group encounter with Porto to finish as winners of Group G, Mourinho was preoccupied once more.
The state of the Sammy Ofer Stadium pitch and the repercussions from the 52-year-old's half-time fallout with Diego Costa became far more pertinent issues than would ordinarily be warranted.
These days, a Chelsea victory devoid of their manager's pernickety is akin to a Punch and Judy show without Punch.
Both Eden Hazard and Costa, in particular, bore the brunt of his relentless demand for perfection.
Yet it is his collision course with the Spain international which is set to prove most unwelcome and potentially debilitating to the fallen English Premier League champions' hopes of any potential renaissance.
Mourinho's frustration had not been completely without foundation; a rare instance.
Costa had appeared a shadow of the player that proved the hero against Norwich City last weekend, let alone the one which tore up defences across the EPL and Europe at will last season.
Given his penchant for confrontation is as prevalent as that of his manager, it was little surprise that the pair's feud carried on down the tunnel.
Mourinho's claim that "kisses and cuddles" ensued in the dressing room carried as much conviction as "The Boy Who Cried Wolf".
That fable now reflects his latest, and self-imposed, predicament.
Such has been the desperation to fight the world on matters of relative triviality this season that he has now painted both himself and Chelsea into a corner.
Gripes about the "dangerous" playing surface which led to John Terry and Ramires both being rendered doubtful for Sunday's trip across the English capital to Tottenham Hotspur will invariably be ignored.
IGNORED
Uefa's corridors of power are set to remain blind and deaf to Chelsea's recent plight. His attack on referee Damir Skomina following the goalless draw with Dynamo Kiev last month has made sure of that.
And was his fixation with trying to one-up Arsene Wenger really worth such repercussions?
The Portuguese will stand alone in believing that his unrequited war of words with his Arsenal counterpart was a just one.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
