Mourinho proud of Chelsea's display vs. Porto: 'They were brave'

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has hinted his side could yet pose a challenge in the Champions League after producing its finest performance of the season Wednesday against Porto.

Chelsea needed a first half own goal to ignite an eventual 2-0 win to top Group G, even though a draw would have been enough to progress. It was a bit of luck the Blues haven't enjoyed in the Premier League.

"The thing that I'm most happy with, apart from the result, is the fact we needed a point to qualify and the players accepted the challenge of playing to win," Mourinho said. "That's not easy when the moment is bad, results are negative and pressure is high. They were brave to accept that challenge."

The victory comes just days after a disastrous loss to Bournemouth. It was Chelsea's 10th defeat in all competitions, but a good response Wednesday at Stamford Bridge gave Mourinho the belief his side could still finish fourth and perhaps do further damage in Europe.

"A team which is struggling as we are is obviously not a candidate to win the Champions League because you have the best teams in Europe," said the 52-year-old, "but when we won it with Porto in 2004 we were not candidates."

Mourinho also believes those sides with second-place finishes will look to draw Chelsea on Dec. 14, as they perceive the Londoners as the weakest top seed.

"I think everybody wants to play us," he said. "They don't want to play Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico, Bayern."