Jose Mourinho is hopeful his back-
up goalkeepers will be able to step
into the breach following the injury
to Petr Cech which has
brought his season to a premature
conclusion.
Cech was forced out of our game
against Atletico Madrid in midweek
with a dislocated shoulder, replaced
by Mark Schwarzer after only 18
minutes.
The Australian, our second-choice
keeper, is expected to start the
second leg against Diego Simeone's
side on Wednesday, and the
manager is wary of him picking up
an injury in today's game at
Liverpool, meaning Hilario could be
involved for the first time since
August 2011.
'It's a big dilemma,' said Mourinho.
'Especially with players who are
always looking for penalties and go
for contact with the goalkeeper, it's
even more dangerous.
'I remember when Hilario played
against Barcelona in the Champions
League, he went in goal and he had
to answer, so it's a good thing to
have a second or third keeper with
experience, who goes into the game
ready.'
Mourinho also explained his reasons
for signing Schwarzer at the
beginning of the campaign.
'He's experienced, the number of
matches he's played during his
career, he knows everything about
the goal and the small box,' said the
Blues boss.
'When you are choosing a second
keeper you need to choose someone
who is mentally ready to play at any
moment.'
As well as Cech, Mourinho will also
have to do without the services of
John Terry, Eden Hazard and
Samuel Eto'o for the trip to Anfield,
with all three players currently
injured.
With both Frank Lampard and John
Mikel Obi suspended for the visit of
Atletico, it's certainly a testing time,
but the manager is not looking for
excuses.
'The squad is not thin,' he said.
'How do we avoid this? You can't
avoid it. We can't have a squad of
40 players because we are afraid 15
of them are going to be injured.
'We have injuries, we have two
players - Nemanja Matic and
Mohamed Salah - who are not
eligible to play in the Champions
League. We bought the two players
in January because the future is
more important than the present.
We decided to buy the players we
wanted to buy even if they cannot
play in the Champions League, so we
have two less with them.
'Because of the nature of our
matches, we had to play against
Galatasaray and the second leg
against Paris when we were losing
3-1, we had an accumulation of
yellow cards that leaves us now
without two players.
'You can't control these
circumstances. I cannot have five
goalkeepers because I'm afraid three
of them are going to be injured.'
On the subject of European
suspensions, Mourinho respects the
rules, and believes only UEFA can
make changes to ensure the best
players are able to play in the most
high-profile matches.
'It's for UEFA to decide,' said the
Portuguese. 'Normally you want the
most important matches to be
played with the best players. If the
final is the most important game in
Europe and the semi-final is the
second-most important game in
European football, it should be
played with the best players.
'But the rules are there, everybody
knows the rules from the first match
so we can't complain.'
