Today at 2:45 p.m., Steaua Bucuresti and Chelsea square off in 2013 UEFA Champions League Group E action from Stadionul Ghencea in Romania. The game can be live streamed here.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho's intensity is at an all-time high as his club enters a must-win game against Bucuresti this afternoon, and the usually jovial coach cut his media session short Monday to oversee the team's final training session on the eve of this big match as his team looks to bounce back from an opening-round loss to Basel.
Forward Kevin de Bruyne and Eden Hazard, who is out with an ankle injury, were both told to stay home and Juan Mata gets the start as Chelsea takes the trip to Romania in hopes to come back with a win
Mourinho was very frustrated during his media session when asked about de Bruyne.
"This is fantastic because nobody asks me about Mata," Mourinho said via ESPN. "You are for three weeks speaking about Mata, and now you are speaking about Kevin de Bruyne. So you are not interested in the players that are playing? You are interested in the players that are not playing. He was not selected. It was my decision. Only 11 can play and 18 can be selected."
Perhaps the media or the team's struggles so far this season have stressed out Mourinho because something struck a chord with the manager as after explaining that he was trying to be honest with Mata and de Bruyne prior to the start, he again got upset at the media's questions.
"You have this tendency to only ask about the guys that are not selected," Mourinho said to the media, according to ESPN before abruptly parting by saying, "See you tomorrow."
Chelsea found its way to glory in last year's Europa league, and midfielder Frank Lampard believes that experience will help them this afternoon.
"We're a very experienced squad, and you can never underestimate any side in the Champions League," the England midfielder told the club's official website, according to ESPN. "In the first match we didn't perform well and we lost the game, that's what happens. Because we're experienced, if you think about it we've now got five games to go, so we aim to put that right."
Lampard also said that the team wasn't expecting an easy game Tuesday.
"We certainly don't expect an easy game. We're lucky we played Steaua Bucharest last season because it makes us fully aware of the good team that they are and particularly the atmosphere we're going to get," he told the site per ESPN.
Steaua will try to push Chelsea over the edge while the Blues will attempt to come back from a crippling opening-round defeat and perhaps ease their manager's nerves when the two teams go face-to-face this afternoon.
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