Champions League/Chelsea v Porto:Jose Mourinho yesterday gave his strongest indication yet he will not be Chelsea's manager next season, boasting that, if the club decides to sack him, he will "walk away a millionaire and find another club in a couple of months".
Mourinho continues to be linked with a summer move to Real Madrid but on the eve of tonight's Champions League second leg against Porto was adamant he felt no pressure to win a competition he knows is the pinnacle of the Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich's ambition for the club.
Mourinho said: "The only pressure is the pressure I put on myself. I don't accept pressure from other people. If people write bad things about me, I don't get depressed about that.
"If the club decides to sack me because of bad results, that's part of the game. If that happens, I'll be a millionaire and I will get another club a couple of months later. I have a happy family, my kids are healthy, I have a lot of friends and I live a good life.
"I have won a lot of things in my career. I cannot win every time, every year, every week. But no one could have done a better job in this club this season."
Mourinho has already won consecutive Premiership titles but has been knocked out of the Champions League at semi-final and last-16 stages in the last two seasons.
Relations between Mourinho and Abramovich have not been warm since the January upheavals that saw the Portuguese come close to resigning over the failure to purchase players in the transfer window and what he perceived as interference in his duties.
Since then there has been an assumption among the Chelsea hierarchy that this season will be Mourinho's last, regardless of results between now and May.
Chelsea's season has been hugely disrupted by repeated injuries to their captain, John Terry, and the prolonged absence of the goalkeeper Petr Cech.
Ashley Cole and Joe Cole have also suffered long-term injuries, while the summer signings Andrei Shevchenko and Michael Ballack have failed to live up to expectations.
Nonetheless they have managed to win the League Cup, reach the the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and go into tonight's home second leg against Porto with a 1-1 advantage.
Yesterday Mourinho, reflecting on facing his former club, gave the impression he is already thinking about returning to Stamford Bridge in the opposing dug-out.
"One day I will play against Chelsea," he said. "You cannot make your career thinking I was in this club or that club. You have to play the game without special emotions. This is just another game against Porto."
Mourinho has nothing but praise for the way his players have managed to stick together and been prepared to play out of position in crucial games in both domestic and European competition.
Michael Essien has looked a world-class performer as an emergency centre-half while Frank Lampard has been forced to play in every game and keep up his high standards throughout the campaign.
Mourinho feels it would be just rewards for his squad if they could win another major trophy come the end of the season. "I think this team deserves to win. The League Cup is over and they deserve to win more.
"You have to give credit to Essien for the way he is playing (out of) his position. You also have to give credit to Ricardo Carvalho because he is playing with a partner who is not a central defender.
"Frank Lampard is playing every game and has to be the same player every time and have the armband on his arm. And you have to give more credit to Petr Cech because he comes back from surgery and looks an even better 'keeper than before.
"To have the results that we have is not a miracle, and I'm not saying it's a job for Superman, I'm saying it's a job which my players deserve credit and respect for. "
Mourinho also believes it will be more difficult to win the Champions League than to overhaul Manchester United's nine-point lead in the Premiership.
"At the moment in the Champions League 16 teams can win it and only two can win the Premiership.
From that aspect it looks more difficult to win the Champions League," he said.
