Mourinho: “It’ll be tough against a fine Slavia Prague side”

You won’t be in the dugout tomorrow and that also applies at San Siro. We’ve seen exuberant celebrations from other coaches too in recent weeks, so do you think there’s one rule for you and one rule for others in this regard?

“I think so.”

Why is that?

“I don’t know, but based on your question, you think so, too.”

How is [Evan] Ndicka? Is there a plan for [Chris] Smalling? Maybe he could get some minutes tomorrow and then play against Inter?

“Ndicka will play tomorrow, as he’s recovered. We don’t have enough defensive options to rotate. He simply has to play.

“As for Smalling, there’s no plan at the moment. As you saw in open training, he just warmed up, did some rondos and that was it. There’s no plan.”

How is [Romelu] Lukaku physically? Does he still need to play? How is he mentally considering what they’re preparing in Milan? I think it’s a bit excessive.

“Lukaku will play. It’ll be a really tough and important game and Lukaku is important to me. Without [Paulo] Dybala and [Lorenzo] Pellegrini, even more so. He has to play.

“I didn’t know Lukaku was so important in Milan because what he did there, by winning the Scudetto and some cups, has been done by 200 players in Inter’s history. I didn’t think he was that important to them.

“It’ll be interesting to see. The fact that he left Inter to join Roma to help his coach is considered dramatic, while [Hakan] Calhanoglu going from AC Milan to Inter is just wonderful and there were no problems years ago when [Fabio] Cannavaro went from Inter to Juve or [Christian] Vieri moved from Inter to Milan.

“I’m shocked by the whole thing because I didn’t think Romelu meant that much to a club with Inter’s history. It’s a surprise for me.”

What do you make of Slavia Prague? You’ve spoken highly of them recently.

“I’ve seen many Slavia Prague matches. I’ve seen two versions: one that plays against Sparta Prague and the other that plays against everyone else. The two are completely different in terms of style of play and philosophy. Which Slavia will we see tomorrow? Will it be the one that faced Sparta or the other one? We’re ready for either because both have done well, albeit in completely different ways.

“They’re very well set up defensively with a clear game plan, quality players and confident defenders who want to build from the back. When Slavia faced Sparta, they played a more direct brand of football, with less playing out from the back, less possession and more first and second balls into the opposition half. There are two Slavias but they are both well drilled.

“They are well prepared because they have good players and a coach who is also good, although I don’t know him personally.”

What do you think of Czech football? What were your thoughts about Slavia when you faced them as Porto boss?

“That was so long ago. It’s got nothing to do with it now. I think it was one or two weeks before I joined Porto halfway through the season. I’ve never actually faced a Czech team. My contact with Czech football is as an observer. Obviously, I’ve paid closer attention now as we’re up against Slavia.

“I’ve seen four or five league games involving Slavia and Sparta. You can see that they’re a level above the rest, with the quality of their play, their players, the set-up and the stadiums. It’s all fantastic.

“I want to take this chance to mention the fact that I’ve been out of touch with a former great Czech friend of mine and someone I’m a big admirer of: Radek Stepanek. I’d like to ask you to do me a favour and tell him I need his phone number, which I used to have when I coached in England.”

Are there any players who have particularly impressed you? How has the fact that Slavia often change formation affected your preparations?

“It’s more difficult when the opposition often changes, but even with the short amount of time that we’ve had, we’ve done it. We’ve also analysed them individually in terms of all their attacking options and there are so many of them. They have five or six players who can play up front. They often change around, which creates difficulties for the opposition, but we’ve done our job. They’re a very good team that deserve to be respected and treated as such.”