'Anything is possible' if Chelsea reach Champions League quarter-finals - Mourinho

By Christopher Devine

Feb 25, 2014 5:37:00 PM

The Portuguese believes that a place in the last eight is enough to give any side a realistic chance of European glory and targets victory over Galatasaray in an "important" tie

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho believes that "anything is possible" for teams who reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

The Blues are in Turkey ahead of the first leg of their round-of-16 tie with Galatasaray, which takes place on Wednesday.

While Mourinho, who has persistently played down Chelsea's chances of winning the Premier League title, claims that his club should not be considered one of the favourites for European glory, he is aware that the most fancied teams do not always prevail.

"I think, when a team reaches a quarter-final, anything is possible so this round is a very important round for every team," the Portuguese told the press.

"Chelsea won it [in 2012] when it was not the favourite; I won it twice [with Porto and Inter] when I was not the favourite; I didn't win it when my team [Real Madrid] was one of the favourites so this competition, because of the knockout, has space for a surprise."

Mourinho faced Galatasaray in last season's Champions League, leading Madrid to a 5-3 aggregate triumph at the last-eight stage, but he argues that the Turkish giants are stronger now than they were then.

He remarked: "If last season was very difficult for Real Madrid, I think this season for Chelsea is not going to be different. They were a good team last season and they have almost exactly the same team but have strengthened with a few extra players.

"We are going to play to win but we know that they are strong and their attacking players are special players." ---------------- goal.com