Jose Mourinho wants Chelsea to win the Champions League

 

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho wants Chelsea to beat Bayern Munich in the Champions League final after his side lost to the German club on penalties.

Chelsea progressed to the final by beating Barcelona, despite playing most of the second leg with 10 men.

"I obviously want Chelsea to win. They were heroes to beat Barcelona with 10 men," said the former Blues boss.

"I'm proud of my players and we have to be strong but we were lacking freshness in an enormous game."

Absent friends

• Bookings picked up in the semi-finals means finalists Bayern Munich and Chelsea will both be without key players
• Bayern will be without David Alaba, Holger Badstuber and Luiz Gustavo
• Ramires, John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic and Raul Meireles will be missing for Chelsea

Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice inside the opening quarter of an hour to put Real ahead in the second leg of their semi-final only for Arjen Robben to score from the penalty spot to level the tie on aggregate.

Extra-time could not separate the sides, before Ronaldo and Kaka had penalties saved in the shoot out, with Sergio Ramos firing over the bar to book Bayern place in the final against Chelsea.

Mourinho was looking to win his third Champions League with a record third club after guiding Porto and Inter Milan to the trophy.

But despite their strong start, Real - who beat La Liga rivals Barca at the weekend - were unable to find a winner and were undone by a Bayern side who were able to field rested players after Borussia Dortmund wrapped up the Bundesliga.

"You have to stay balanced when you win and when you lose," Mourinho said.

"The lads were fantastic, with an incredible mentality against a great team, against a team that last weekend were on holiday.

"We lost, we are sad and they are happy but that's football."

On home turf

• Two teams have previously featured in the European Cup final on their own ground
• Roma lost 4-2 on penalties to Liverpool following a 1-1 draw at Stadio Olimpico and Real Madrid beat Fiorentina 2-0 at the Bernabeu in 1957

Bayern, who are chasing a fifth victory in the competition, are the first club since Roma in 1984 to play a European Cup final on home soil, although the Italians were beaten on penalties by Liverpool.

Coach Jupp Heynckes said: "We've achieved our main objective of the season, it was almost an obsession for us to play the final in our stadium.

"We played a great game against an extraordinary opponent who went 2-0 ahead tonight but we have managed to get a goal back, our goalkeeper has been great at the end and we've had a bit of luck.

"I told them before we may have to play for 120 minutes but I did not expect the penalties."

Chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who twice won the European Cup as a player with Bayern, said: "I have not witnessed something like that in 40 years of professional football.

"This tops everything we experienced in the 70s and 80s. I am very happy and very proud. That was top quality football."