Football
ESPN staff 9y

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho keeps team talks short to avoid UEFA ban

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has revealed that he keeps his half-time team-talks short during Champions League matches.

The 51-year-old was handed a five-match ban and fined 50,000 euros while in charge of Real Madrid for his behaviour during and after the club's ill-tempered Champions League semifinal against Barcelona.

The last two games of that ban were suspended following an appeal, and the Portuguese coach now takes great care to ensure that he does not give European football's governing body any reason to reactivate it.

"In European competitions, I get scalded," he said in The Sun. "Now they've invented another one: In the case of a team returning late after half-time, the coach gets a game's suspension.

"In my case, it's one more thing, because I've got games of punishment outstanding.

"That's why with me, in UEFA games at half-time, there are five minutes of conversation and everyone is out. We can't risk it."

Chelsea currently top Champions League Group G with four points from two games, and host Slovenian side Maribor at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.

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