MADRID: Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho reacted confidently after his side needed a late Mesut Ozil free kick to salvage a 2-2 Champions League Group D draw at home to Borussia Dortmund yesterday.
A win for Real, who lost 2-1 away to the Bundesliga side last month, would have put them top of the group with two games to play.
However, they were twice undone by swift Dortmund counterattacks and were fortunate to emerge with a point thanks to Ozil’s 89th-minute effort that squeaked in off a post.
Mourinho, who is seeking to win Europe’s elite club competition with a third club after triumphs with Porto in 2004 and Inter Milan two years ago, said history had shown topping the group was not necessarily a pre-requisite for success.
“The two times I won the Champions League I finished second in the group,” he told a news conference.
“With Porto we were second and Real Madrid were first and we went on to play Manchester United and we got through,” added the Portuguese, who also had a successful spell at Chelsea.
“With Inter we got Chelsea in the last 16. Chelsea out and we progressed. I am not superstitious but this makes me think that it doesn’t matter whether you are first or second.”
With four of six matches played the group thought to be the toughest in the competition is wide open.
Dortmund have eight points, with Real on seven, Ajax Amsterdam on four and Manchester City on two. Real visit Manchester on November 21 before hosting Ajax on December 4.
“If this is the toughest group and Real Madrid has always been in one of the two qualification spots then I don’t know what the drama is,” Mourinho said.
“If we get through this group it’s an achievement and we are close to doing it.”
Mourinho has a more immediate problem to deal with after Gonzalo Higuain was forced off at halftime on Tuesday, joining strike partner Karim Benzema on the injured list.
Neither were likely to be available for Sunday’s La Liga match at Levante, Mourinho said, when Real will continue their bid to close the eight-point gap to leaders and arch rivals Barcelona after a poor start to their title defence.
Mancini furious
Meanwhile, furious Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini remonstrated with the referee after his side were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Ajax Amsterdam.
Peter Rasmussen disallowed a late effort from Sergio Aguero which incensed Mancini and City’s volatile Italian forward Mario Balotelli also had to be restrained by team mates at the end of the match after his late penalty appeal was turned down.
“I said to the referee ‘It was a goal, congratulations, it was a goal,'” Italian Mancini said after the enthralling Group C clash at the Etihad Stadium. “I didn’t see Mario’s penalty (appeal) but the players said it was a penalty.
“I didn’t see the late situation with Mario but the referee and his staff were really poor tonight. I think we scored three goals tonight, but we conceded two stupid goals.”
The draw kept alive City’s faint hopes of reaching the next stage but they need to win their final two games, at home to Real Madrid and at Borussia Dortmund, while hoping other results go their way – a chain of events Mancini believes is impossible.
“There is no chance,” he said. “We can only get eight points. If we finish with eight points and go through, then we can win the Champions League because this will be our destiny.
“If we win our next two games and go to the second stage then it is our destiny to win the Champions League.
“I always believe in my team. Sometimes, we make mistakes, like when we conceded two goals today, but I always believe in my team,” he added.
In other matches, Arsenal had looked set to avenge their home defeat by Schalke last month after an impressive opening to the game in Gelsenkirchen.
Walcott, making his first start in the competition this season, pounced in the 18th after Giroud, through one-on-one, was tackled on the edge of the box.
Frenchman Giroud, who has endured a difficult beginning to his career in London, then met Lukas Podolski’s left-wing cross with a diving header to double Arsenal’s lead after 26 minutes.
Huntelaar began Schalke’s recovery just before halftime with a precise left-foot finish and they got a deserved equaliser through Peruvian Farfan in the 67th.
Two clubs qualified for the knock-out round: former winners Porto and impressive debutants Malaga became the first teams to reach the last 16 of the Champions League.
Group A leaders Porto, the 1987 and 2004 European champions, drew 0-0 away at Dynamo Kiev to move on to 10 points from four games, while Malaga continued to surprise in their first season, a 1-1 draw with seven-times champions AC Milan at the San Siro moving the Andalusian club on to 10 points in Group C. (Reuters)