Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho told his players to “enjoy the situation” as they trailed Porto at half-time in the Champions League.
The Blues went a goal behind but second-half strikes from Arjen Robben and Michael Ballack earned them a place in the last eight.
“I asked the players to enjoy the situation,” Mourinho said of his half-time team talk.
“We had 45 minutes to change things, and I asked them ‘are you scared of it or are you going to enjoy it?’.
“Psychologically, I just made the players think a little bit. I told them that, at that moment, we were out of the competition. I think the reaction was very positive.
“When you come out and score a goal inside three minutes, it gives you extra confidence. My players showed a very strong mentality.
“But Porto did better than us in the first half. Not because they were winning one-zero but because of the way they were playing.
“From our very strong second half, we deserved to go through. But although Porto are sad – they can be proud of the work they did.
“The game was open until the very last minute. When you go to the second half and you score a goal that makes it 2-2 on aggregate, I don’t think it is destiny.”
Porto boss Manuel Jesualdo Ferreira believed the appearance of Mikel John Obi at the start of the second half, may have swung the game Chelsea’s way.
“We were playing well in the first half,” said Porto coach Ferreira.
“But then came a change by the Chelsea team.
“I don’t know how many attempts at goal there were by Chelsea,” he said.
“They have a method of playing that produces results – the kind of result you saw at Stamford Bridge.”
