It’ll be tough against Basel –Mike

Mikel Obi

Chelsea midfielder Mikel Obi says that Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League match away to Basel will be quite a tough one. The Nigerian however believes that the Stamford Bridge players are a lot more prepared than they were when they lost the first leg to the Swiss team in London.

That hope for victory is shared by Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho who also spoke to the international media in Switzerland on Monday ahead of tonight’s match.

Mikel said on Monday night, “Tomorrow (Tuesday) is going to be tough but we are playing with a lot of confidence. But we must not switch off during the game. The way we played on Saturday is exactly how the manager wants us to play — good concentration, pressing the ball.

“The manager made it clear after the home game against Basel the way we played wasn’t acceptable. Since then we won every Champions League game.”

On his increasing role in the Chelsea team, the Super Eagles midfielder said that the Mourinho approach to training had changed a lot of things with the team.

“I know if you work hard in training then the manager will give you a chance and I am happy to be in the team again. Now the manager deals with the players more calmly and we are very happy to have him back”.

Mikel told reporters that playing for Nigeria in the FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil last June denied him proper pre-season work with Chelsea and ultimately contributed to his slow integration into the main team at Stamford Bridge this term.

“I was in the Confederations Cup so didn’t have a good pre-season, I knew it would be tough to get back into the team,” he said.

Mikel’s performance in the world meet has been general adjudged to be very good. It is believed that the outing raised his profile a lot higher following the African cup success in February.

And also on the game against the Swiss club, Mourinho is very hopeful the result would be better than the first meet but complained about the Chelsea’s loaded fixtures.

“We can lose but we can also win. If somebody tomorrow has to feel the pressure it’s not us, it’s Basel. This is a period I like because the squad play a role. Only the brave can survive because of the accumulation of matches.”

On his roster he added, “I can’t change the rules, I can’t start the match with 12, 13 or 14 players. Juan (Mata) deserves to play. I have to leave players out because I can’t start with 15 players. It’s a good problem because I have so many good options.”