Mourinho goes on the attack again and this time it's Carragher and Souness in his sights as he hammers them over Chelsea criticism

Jose Mourinho has hit out at Sportsmail columnist Jamie Carragher and his fellow Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness following their comments about the behaviour of Chelsea players during the Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday.

 The Chelsea players have been widely criticised for surrounding referee Bjorn Kuipers before Zlatan Ibrahimovic was sent off for a first-half tackle on Oscar.

Speaking of the incident, Carragher told Sky Sports: 'The reaction from the Chelsea players is disgraceful. It’s something that is sad that is coming into the game.

'It comes from I think Jose Mourinho’s teams, they have this reaction, it’s not a one-off.'

Former Liverpool star Souness also branded the actions of Chelsea's squad 'pathetic'.

He said: 'In Jamie’s (Carragher) generation, when someone caught you, the last thing you wanted to show your opponent is that you’re injured, today it’s the exact opposite. 

'If someone brushes you, you want to go down and get them in trouble. That’s how pathetic it is.

'Thank goodness PSG stood up to that and leave here with great credit. They are the proper team.' 

Speaking on Friday, Mourinho responded by suggesting Carragher and Souness have forgotten what it's like to be a player. 

He said: ‘The world is a bit strange, what with the diet and the quality of products we are eating, because memories are getting short.

'When Graeme Souness and Carragher speak about it they are having a problem for sure.

‘The game finished and to close the Champions League chapter, I did that in the tunnel, one by one every one from PSG I shook their hands and told them they deserved it.

Come and get me Chelsea: Shakhtar's £35m star Costa still dreams of Chelsea move despite Man United keeping tabs

Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Douglas Costa has admitted he dreams of a move to the Premier League with title contenders Chelsea being his preferred destination. Costa, who has a release clause of more than £35million with the Ukrainian side, was originally linked with a move to La Liga giants Barcelona. However, the 24-year-old has revealed to FourFourTwo that both Manchester United and Chelsea had bids for him turned down in January, with Costa hoping a move to the latter could still take place.

He said: ‘I’d be really interested in moving to Chelsea – not only because everything Willian tells me about the club, but because I think that I’d be able to achieve everything I want having someone like Jose Mourinho by my side.

‘Since I left Brazil, I have worked with a marvellous coach (Mircea Lucescu) and got an idea of how much influence such a good professional can have in your football.

‘Now I think it’s time to try a new philosophy and I’m sure that Mourinho’s is the best around He’s always fighting for trophies.’

The current Premier League leaders had an increased offer of £18.7million for the Brazilian rejected in January, having already had an opening bid of £16million rejected days earlier.

But because he was cup-tied for the Champions League the former Gremio man was only ever Mourinho's second choice.

Instead Chelsea used the money raised from the sale of Andre Schurrle to sign Fiorentina midfielder Juan Cuadrado after activating the 26-year-old's £26.8million buy-out clause. 

'That's it... I won't speak again this season': Ronaldo vows to stay silent after Real fans wave white hankies

Cristiano Ronaldo might be the all-time top scorer in European club competitions after his brace against Schalke but he left the Santiago Bernabeu angry at Real Madrid’s dreadful form and vowing not to talk publicly again until the end of the season.

Team-mate Gareth Bale was no happier after the crowd booed him in the 4-3 defeat by Roberto Di Matteo’s side. 

The Manchester United target was once again targeted by supporters along with coach Carlo Ancelotti and goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

Ronaldo overtakes arch rival Messi as top all-time scorer in Europe with another two goals for Real Madrid

Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has scored more goals in European competitions than any other player following his brace against Schalke in the last-16 of the Champions League.

 Ronaldo struck twice to score his 77th and 78th goals in Europe, which puts him above former Real Madrid team-mate Raul and Barcelona's Lionel Messi.

The Portuguese international is also now level with Messi as the joint record all-time goalscorer in the Champions League proper - with 75 goals apiece in Europe's elite competition.

How once-fearsome Falcao became feeble Falcao: Dumped into United's reserves, has the £250,000-a-week flop suffered a sharper decline than £50m Torres at Chelsea?

Even Fernando Torres wasn't relegated to the reserves. But for £250,000-per-week Radamel Falcao - perhaps the most handsomely-rewarded second-string striker in history - this was the ultimate indignity.

Our training sessions are tougher than playing in France, says Mourinho as he aims to knock out PSG in Champions League

Chelsea step into Europe on Wednesday night at the vanguard of a fading English challenge and there is nowhere Jose Mourinho would rather be. Leading from the front suits him. Odds stacked against, all the better. Arsenal and Manchester City follow next week, hopes battered by first-leg defeats at home against Monaco and Barcelona. Chelsea are well set in comparison, although it is easy to exaggerate their slender advantage over Paris Saint-Germain, following the 1-1 draw in France, three weeks ago.

Mourinho claims PSG are more aggressive than Shrewsbury... so, who should Chelsea look out for in Champions League?

 It isn't often Paris Saint-Germain are compared to Shrewsbury Town, but that is exactly what Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho did when accusing the French side of 'aggressive tactics'.

Mourinho made the comments ahead of Wednesday night's crucial Champions League last-16 clash at Stamford Bridge after a feisty 1-1 draw in the first leg.

He said: 'I was surprised because a team with fantastic players was the team with a record number of fouls. 

 This season we've played against sides form the Championship in the cups, against teams from League One, and Shrewsbury from League Two, but the most aggressive team was PSG.'

Eden Hazard was often the victim at the Parc des Princes, though Laurent Blanc has also claimed Diego Costa is capable of 'dirty tricks' and has told the referee to watch out.

It promises to be a tough night for Bjorn Kuipers. Not only with PSG, but with Chelsea - who have committed more fouls than PSG in the competition this season - and Nemanja Matic, whose foul-count is higher than any of Blanc's players.

But as the two teams look to reach the quarter-finals, who are the PSG players Mourinho feels so strongly about? Are they more aggressive than those in a League two side?

FA Cup semi-final draw gives hope of extra Euro place for Premier League

The teams on the fringe of the race for European places next season have been given a boost by the FA Cup semi-final draw.

After Arsenal and Liverpool were kept apart, a final between the two could result in an extra Europa League place being awarded to the Premier League. 

Some clubs might regard a place in UEFA’s second-tier competition as an unwanted prize given the demands of Thursday night football and the potential for it to disrupt weekly plans and often negatively affect performances in the Premier League.

Chamberlain out for FOUR weeks with hamstring strain

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is set to miss England's Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania with a hamstring strain. The Arsenal star limped off at Old Trafford.

Mayweather works hard in the gym as he prepares to go head-to-head with Pacquiao at only press conference before mega fight

Floyd Mayweather's preparations for his upcoming fight with Manny Pacquiao have started to gather pace with the undefeated American beginning his second week of training. The 38-year-old, who will go toe-to-toe with Pacquiao in Las Vegas on May 2, has uploaded a video on to his official Instagram account which shows Mayweather training inside the boxing ring and working on his fitness ahead of the mega fight. Mayweather has been providing his fans with regular updates since his fight with Pacquiao was officially announced on February 21.

We're going to Wembley: Ozil and Sanchez lead FA Cup celebrations

Arsene Wenger was pleased with his side's approach at Old Trafford as Arsenal secured a return to Wembley with a 2-1 FA Cup quarter-final win over Manchester United. Wenger admitted he was proud of how his side executed their game plan, and told BBC 1: '(We wanted) to start without apprehension but we were caught a few times here.

West Ham will have to cough up £10m to land Arsenal loanee Jenkinson

West Ham will have to pay Arsenal £10m to make Carl Jenkinson's move permanent. The 23-year-old has impressed at Upton Park this season.

Di Maria is wrestling with idea of leaving United... and Van Gaal underestimated his task in England

FA Cup quarter-final clash between Manchester United and Arsenal which saw the visitors earn a 2-1 victory. He addressed the major topics from Monday night's quarter-final clash, including Louis van Gaal's tactics and Danny Welbeck's winning goal against his former club.

Man United are playing Hackney Marshes football. But does Van Gaal's chopping and changing tell us more about the limitations of the players... or the manager himself?

On the way home from Old Trafford on Monday night the debate, as it turned out, was the wrong debate. Should Danny Welbeck have been sold to Arsenal last summer? Should he, in turn, really have celebrated his winning goal back in Manchester? Both were rather irrelevant questions. Welbeck is an honest, talented footballer but he wouldn't make a difference to Louis van Gaal's United team. He is good without being really good.

Rodgers is making Mario grow up! Balotelli is learning fast, says agent

It's fair to say that Mario Balotelli hasn't quite hit the ground running at Liverpool, and according to his agent that could be down to his struggle to cope with the demands of Brendan Rodgers.

Balotelli has scored just one Barclays Premier League goal this season - and cryptically revealed on Wednesday that 'someone doesn't like me'.

And his agent Mino Raiola says Rodgers is asking more of him than any other manager has done in a career that has seen him work under the likes of Jose Mourinho and Roberto Mancini.

Yarnold wins gold at Skeleton World Championships in Winterberg to complete career 'grand slam'

Great Britain's Lizzy Yarnold won gold at the Skeleton World Championships in Winterberg to complete the career 'grand slam' of major titles. The 26-year-old added the world crown to her Olympic, World Cup and European golds after another record-breaking performance on Saturday. Having smashed the track record on Friday, Yarnold lowered it again in the final of her four runs to clinch the victory in a combined time of three minutes, 49.95 seconds.

UFC star Rousey: I would beat '100 per cent' of male bantamweights

Ronda Rousey is the talk of UFC at the moment and the undefeated women's bantamweight champion is adamant she could beat '100 per cent' of the opposite sex in the same division.

Rousey currently boasts an 11-0 record in the sport having defeated Cat Zingano in just 14 seconds in her most recent contest on February 28.

After her latest triumph, talk turned to how the 28-year-old would fare against a man - a prospect that doesn't faze the 135-pound division champion.

Butler beaten as Tete lands brutal uppercut for eighth-round KO

Zolani Tete unleashed a brutal uppercut to stop Britain's Paul Butler and claim victory in their IBF world super-flyweight title fight at Liverpool's Echo Arena on Friday.


Butler was bidding to add to the bantamweight belt he reluctantly gave up last year, but Tete's eighth-round knock-out ensured it was the South African who emerged triumphant.

Pacquiao's gym patrolled by armed guards ahead of Mayweather clash

The Hollywood gym inside which Manny Pacquiao plots his victory over Floyd Mayweather Jnr is being patrolled by seven armed guards.

The Wild Card Boxing Club, run by the Filipino’s esteemed trainer Freddie Roach, is usually open for fans hoping to catch a glimpse of a master at work.

But now, with a $300million (£200m) mega-fight at stake, nothing is being left to chance. 

Villa and Kaka set to start in front of sell-out crowd as MLS debutants Orlando City and New York City face off in Florida

Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck are facing an uphill battle in the Orlando popularity stakes this weekend. Disney World is a real life Magic Kingdom for millions yet not even the grandest of shows or white knuckle rides will match the atmosphere in the creaking, cavernous Citrus Bowl on Sunday afternoon. A sell-out crowd of 62,000 will make their way downtown to witness Orlando City, led out by Brazilian legend Kaka, in their inaugural MLS match against another fellow newcomer in the shape of NYCFC.

Liverpool the only place for Rodgers as boss admits: 'When you come here, you know you can never manage Man United'

Brendan Rodgers has admitted it would be 'very difficult' for him to manage another English club as he stated his ambition to create an Anfield dynasty. Having overseen a dramatic transformation in Liverpool's season, Rodgers' star is ascending once more and it has been speculated that he would be high on Manchester City's wish-list if Manuel Pellegrini does not survive the end of this campaign.

Diaby poised to leave Arsenal after 222 weeks on the sidelines... here's the midfielder's horrific injury record in full

Abou Vassiriki Diaby's nine-year career at Arsenal has been an emotional and physical roller coaster and Arsene Wenger now looks set to release the French midfielder at the end of his contract in June.

USA survive Great Britain comeback as Bryan brothers defeat Murray and Inglot to avoid Davis Cup exit

Andy Murray finds himself with the task of killing off America in the Davis Cup on Sunday after Great Britain's scratch pair came tantalisingly close to doing the job for him. After James Ward's heroics on Friday, Jamie Murray and Dom Inglot almost mimicked his comeback before going down 3-6 2-6 6-3 7-6 9-7 to the celebrated Bryan brothers in another epic, this time lasting three hours and 39 minutes.

It's time to get off Van Gaal's back... United were never going to finish above City and Chelsea this season

When Louis van Gaal was unveiled last summer, what position did you imagine Manchester United to be in going into the final 10 games? If you envisaged them leading the title race, you would have been kidding yourself. There was never any chance of United finishing in front of both Chelsea and Manchester City this season, not even after they spent £150.2million on new players and recruited a coach with a distinguished reputation. Yet given the way some people are talking about United at the moment, there seems to be disappointment and mystification that Van Gaal's team are in the middle of a fight to get into the top four and not perched in top spot, setting an unrelenting pace.

With Hodgson watching in the stands, Kane wins battle of England strikers with Austin

Roy Hodgson would have left Loftus Road with a warm-tingly feeling yesterday. It had nothing to do with the mid-March sunshine, however. It was because of Tottenham striker Harry Kane. This clash was billed as a straight shoot-out between England strike hopefuls Kane and Queens Park Rangers frontman Charlie Austin.