Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has revealed he deliberately left the dressing room early at half-time during his side's Champions League clash with Porto to avoid a potential one-match ban.
Referee Cuneyt Cakir had warned in a pre-match meeting that both Group G games must start their halves at exactly the same time. He stated that if a team was late emerging from the tunnel, the manager would be held responsible and suspended for the next European match.
With Chelsea leading 1-0 at the break, Mourinho spent the final two minutes of the interval outside the dressing room. 'It's simple,' he said. 'The rules in UEFA are that, if the team are late at half-time, the manager is suspended for the next match. It's his responsibility.'
The Portuguese boss added: 'Today the referee was very clear in the meeting in the morning that the Chelsea-Porto and Dynamo-Maccabi matches should start at the same time, so I went there to show that, if somebody is late, it's not my fault.'
Chelsea went on to win 2-0, securing their place in the last 16, and Mourinho will be on the touchline for the knockout stage.
