Jose Mourinho took responsibility for Chelsea's complacency but also
pointed the finger at the officials after a 1-1 draw at Champions
League minnows Maribor.
The Blues remained unbeaten this season, but could have increased
their advantage at the top of Group G to five points with two games to
play had they won.
Eden Hazard's late penalty was saved, meaning
Mourinho's men must now win in Gelsenkirchen later this month against a
Schalke side managed by Roberto Di Matteo - the man who led Chelsea to
the 2012 European Cup - to ensure progress to the last 16 with a game to
spare.
Chelsea had beaten Maribor 6-0 two weeks ago and came to
life only after Agim Ibraimi's goal, Nemanja Matic's close-range strike
salvaging a draw.
"Many times surprises happen when people are not
fully focused, when they believe the game can't be a difficult one,"
Mourinho said.
"I was conscious of it, but I was not successful in passing over that message.
"If
I cannot convince the players that the game is difficult and you have
to play from minute one, obviously it's my responsibility.
"Only
when Maribor scored did the players realise the game was in danger.
After that, a fantastic reaction. We deserved to win, clearly."
Mourinho felt Diego Costa, brought on at half-time, had a strike unfairly ruled out for offside.
"We scored two goals, two very good goals," he added.
"The second goal, the referee (Italian Daniele Orsato) decided to disallow but it's a clear goal.
"Normally we should win because we scored two goals. But we have to accept it.
"We didn't reach the number of goals that we should have in the second half,
but the team played well. And we scored a great second goal.
"And the referee's team did not have a good night."
The
Slovenians were unrecognisable from the side beaten at Stamford Bridge,
but also indebted to Jasmin Handanovic for a couple of outstanding
saves.
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