Jose Mourinho: Chelsea’s win at Man City has no bearing on FA Cup tie

Jose Mourinho doesn’t expect Chelsea’s recent triumph at The Etihad to have any bearing on their FA Cup fifth-round clash against Manchester City on Saturday.

The Blues were 1-0 victors over the Citizens 12 days ago after Serbian defender Branislav Ivanovic scored a first-half winner, with the visitors also hitting the woodwork three times at Etihad Stadium.

We are not going there to try and get a draw and take the game to Stamford Bridge

Jose Mourinho

Mourinho was the recipient of hefty praise following the Eastlands triumph after being deemed to have tactically outclassed his rival manager Manuel Pellegrini, who has outwitted the Blues boss once in eight attempts.

However, the 51-year-old has played down the significance of that result as the west London side aim to book their place in the FA Cup quarter-finals.

“There are not two games the same. If we start with the same team which we won’t, and if they start with the same team which I don’t know if they do or they don’t, it will be very difficult for a match to be the same,” Mourinho told his pre-match media conference on Friday.

Chelsea have moved to the top of the Premier League table since their victory over City courtesy of a 3-0 win against Newcastle United and a 1-1 draw with West Bromwich on Wednesday.

With a demanding schedule in the Champions League and Premier League, Mourinho admitted that Chelsea would go all out in a bid to win and avoid the inconvenience of a replay.

Mourinho added: “Is the approach the same in the sense that we are going to try to win despite playing the best team in this country? Yes.

“The approach is the same. We don’t want a replay. I don’t know what they feel about it but we don’t want a replay so we are not going there to try and get a draw and take the game to Stamford Bridge.”