Jose Mourinho believes his side can get the win in Madrid[GETTY]It was a chance that the stony-faced Chelsea manager did not take.
Mourinho departed Real Madrid at the end of last season having suffered a trophyless campaign, fallen out with the board at the Bernabeu, half of his star-studded dressing room, and most of the Spanish media as well.
Tonight he steps out in that most intimidating of Spanish arenas, the Estadio Vicente Calderon in Madrid, with his reputation as the "Happy One" who had replaced the "Special One" in his return to English football fast disappearing. Under a welter of complaints about referees, bad behaviour not only from his players but his staff - but also an apparent sour unwillingness to accept defeat.
Things are far from reaching the toxic levels of paranoia that marked his last few days in Madrid - but Mourinho, who has done remarkably well to steer Chelsea to this Champions League semi-final against Atletico Madrid, needs one of those performances he so often conjures up from his men tonight.
Mourinho never lost in six league meetings with Atletico as Real Madrid manager, four of them under current coach Diego Simeone - but he was beaten in the Copa Del Rey final last year by the Argentinian's team in a result which virtually spelled the end of his reign at the Bernabeu.
Thibaut Courtois will be coming up against his parent club [GETTY]If Diego Simeone says I am a better coach than him, I don't agree
Barring a miracle at Anfield on Sunday, this is Chelsea's last real hope of a trophy this season, and the chance for Mourinho himself to avoid the ignominy of two years without a trophy personally.
The Chelsea manager said: "Every player and every manager wants to play in games like this.
"If Diego Simeone says I am a better coach than him, I don't agree. It's not fair to compare a coach with 15 years of career with a coach with less. It's something I don't like to do.
"I'm not here to comment on Atletico's qualities. No team arrives in a Champions League semi-final without being very good. They are a team we respect and have studied.
"I've watched them play lots and since the draw I watched with better eyes. I study a lot to make my players understand what Atletico are. But I'm not interested in sharing my vision."
Mourinho provocotively insisted that Real Madrid was still his team in Spain as he refused to answer questions in Spanish and insisted: "Nothing has changed with me. Maybe it is the weather."
He denied though that he had unfinished business in the Champions League, having lost two semi-finals in his first spell at Chelsea: "Sometimes you win, some you lose. In my other semis with Chelsea, one we lost on penalties. The other we lost with a goal that was not a goal, but that's part of football."
Eden Hazard could be set for a start after travelling with the squad [GETTY]It is a tie also filled with sub-plots - not the least of which is Chelsea facing their own goalkeeper in Thibaut Courtois, burnishing a reputation as the best young keeper in Europe in three years on loan at Atletico, and set to sign a new four-year deal with the club, although he may well be heading back for a further year on loan in Spain.
Then there is Atletico's danger man Diego Costa - the Brazilian-born Spanish hit man who is Chelsea's main striking target this summer and who they are confident of landing in a £35.5 million deal.
Mourinho has steered his team on an occasionally rocky path through the Champions League this season, but the way they came back from the dead against Paris St Germain in the quarter-finals will give them hope tonight.
The Chelsea manager's usual mind games had observers believing that key forward Eden Hazard would miss tonight's game thanks to his calf injury. But the Belgian, though he had not trained for a fortnight, was on the plane to Madrid yesterday and is expected to figure. Possibly more crucial will be the absence of the banned Branislav Ivanovic. It could mean a recall for Ashley Cole, or David Luiz switching to full-back.
Fernando Torres, mobbed on his arrival back at the club where he started his career, could also figure with Samuel Eto'o injured.
Mourinho said: "Fernando never hides. He is a real Atletico supporter. Every day we speak about Spanish football. But he is a professional. I have no doubts that when he is on the pitch tonight he will do everything for Chelsea as the fantastic professional that he is."
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