Mourinho makes Champions League his prime target
Jose Mourinho has signalled a further improvement in his relationship with Roman Abramovich by identifying success in the Champions League rather than the Premiership as Chelsea's priority for next season.
Despite having won every achievable domestic trophy during his three seasons at Stamford Bridge, Mourinho has yet to mastermind the sort of dominance in Europe which Abramovich, Chelsea's owner, is understood to crave.
Mourinho has previously suggested he regards the Premiership as the greatest test and, although he will not change his style and philosophy, there are signs of a shift in priorities.
"Winning is a habit, winning is culture, winning has a lot of mental preparation and I am very happy with it here," he said. "I just feel the last step is to take this feeling, or this little bit of luck, to European competition. Chelsea played three Champions League semi-finals in the last four years, which is fantastic, but couldn't play one single final.
"This club wants more and we want more. I won it before but past is past, I want to do it with Chelsea. The players, they want to do it but we have to do it without being obsessed because being obsessed doesn't help."
Chelsea will be assisted next season by being among the top eight seeds, meaning they will avoid any of Europe's "super-powers" in the group stage.
Mourinho believes the fixture schedule and injuries impacted on his side's defeat by Liverpool on penalties in the Champions League semi-final this month. He is adamant, however, that he does not want a significantly larger squad and is unlikely to start next season with a radically changed team. He feels small details can make the difference.
"We have to understand the game," he said. "Understanding the game is two or three minutes to go we score against Man United and win the FA Cup. Against Liverpool we couldn't score two penalties in three shots and details make the difference. We must just keep doing our work and trying to improve and for sure next season we will improve because I don't believe in the same kind of season in medical terms."
Milan's coach, Carlo Ancelotti, meanwhile, has been quoted as saying he does not expect Chelsea to allow Andriy Shevchenko to return to San Siro for next season.
