JOSE MOURINHO has lifted the lid on Chelsea ruining Liverpool’s title tilt in 2014.
The Reds were set to win their first ever Premier League before they infamously lost out to Manchester City in the final three games.
A 2-0 defeat to Chelsea followed by a 3-3 draw at Crystal Palace, bottling a three-goal lead in the final ten minutes, was enough to hand Manuel Pelligrini’s side the trophy by two points.
The Blues’ shock victory at Anfield in April nearly ten years ago is one of the league’s most unforgettable moments.
Steven Gerrard slipped while in possession to let Demba Ba run through and finish before Willian wrapped up the victory.
Mourinho celebrated madly, running up the touchline and hitting his chest to the fury of Liverpool supporters.
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His passion and lack of changes to the starting XI was a surprise to most as the match was sandwiched between their two Champions League semi-final legs against Atletico Madrid, which Chelsea ended up losing.
Mourinho has now revealed why he was so desperate to spoil Liverpool’s party.
And it was not to do with getting one over his former assistant and then Reds boss Brendan Rodgers.
The now Roma boss was instead motivated by the Premier League’s scheduling and Liverpool fans’ too soon title celebrations.
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Mourinho told The Obi One Podcast: “It was nothing to do with Brendan. In many fun moments, we used to call Brendan ‘The Special Two’. We had a very good relationship.
“What happened was we were in the Champions League semi-final and this game (against Liverpool) means nothing because we were going to finish second or third.
“I wanted to play the game on Friday night or Saturday. The Premier League didn’t do that for us.
“We were crying, we were complaining, we were begging, and they were saying it was because of audiences, because of Sky, because of I don’t know what.
“For us it was about reaching the Champions League final, but I couldn’t go and play Liverpool with our Under 18s. It wouldn’t have been fair to Man City for us to go there even with our second team, so we wanted to do things in the right way.
“We wanted to play on the Friday night or on Saturday at 12pm maximum. They didn’t give us that, so when we went there to destroy their party.
“We went there like we were playing for the title, which we weren’t, but we gave everything to try to win.
“Of course, I gave a bit of rest to one or two guys, I played young Tomas Kalas, who had a fantastic game against Luis Suarez.
“We were on the bus and the guys outside were selling shirts with ‘Liverpool Champions’ on.
“You can’t allow that as Chelsea. You have to keep the marketing and merchandise in a box.
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“We played a fantastic match. Of course, Stevie G slipped and he was the last person who deserved that to happen, but that’s part of football and in reality we played so well.
“I even felt sorry for Brendan because I’m always supporting my friends, but on matchday friends stay at home.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
