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London's chief coach Jose Mourinho refused to admit defeat in the fight for the English champions title in advance, despite his team losing two very important points in the match with.
Nevertheless, the Portuguese also did not deny that the team's positions, now three points behind with five games remaining, are much better.
"This is not the end yet, mathematically we still have a chance to become champions," said J. Mourinho.
"As long as there is hope, we must believe. But unfortunately, we have almost lost. Almost. They have to lose two games, we have to win all three. "Man Utd" is very close to victory."
At one point, it seemed that this day would be very successful for Chelsea - the Londoners led 2-1 against Bolton in the middle of the first half, while Man Utd was losing 0-1 to Everton, and later 0-2. In that case, the teams would have been tied in points on the standings table. However, the situation later turned upside down and became unfavorable for the defending English champions.
Chelsea played a 2-2 draw while Man Utd snatched a 4-2 victory.
"The match was emotional, although the two teams did not demonstrate a very high quality of play," added J. Mourinho, deciding not to include Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba in the starting lineup.
"Perhaps we were too emotional, but we put our hearts into the fight. We pressed the visitors and were close to scoring a third goal."
In the Premier League, the London club still has matches against Arsenal (away), Man Utd (home), and Everton (home), but J. Mourinho does not hide that the priority now is the second leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final against.
"It's sad, but we have an important match on Tuesday and in this situation, it's good," reassured J. Mourinho.
In the first match, Chelsea snatched a 1-0 victory at their home "Stamford Bridge" stadium, so they have a slight advantage.
Talking about defender Ricardo Carvalho, who started the match in the starting lineup but was replaced after just half an hour due to injury, the coach said: "Not good, injured a few. He definitely won't play against Liverpool."
"It's a big loss for us because the Portuguese is our best defender this season."
Meanwhile, Sammy Lee, assistant to Bolton's head coach Sam Allardyce, did not hide his satisfaction with the points snatched: "We just aim to achieve the highest possible position on the standings table.
"We really want to break into the UEFA Cup, so we are happy to have won yet another point."
S. Lee also commented on reports in the press that S. Allardyce will leave the Bolton team in the summer.
"It's just speculation. As soon as we know something about it, we will announce it."
