Oporto, Portugal, Nov 28: Porto coach Jose Mourinho praised his side for reaching the Champions League knockout phase but admitted their 2-1 victory over Partizan Belgrade had not been a classic game.
Porto lie second in Group F, three points behind leaders Real Madrid, but they are seven ahead of Olympique Marseille, who lost 2-1 to the Spanish champions.
``The aim was achieved calmly, without too much suffering and without having to worry about the outcome of the Marseille-Real game,`` Mourinho said Wednesday after the match.
Mourinho dismissed Porto`s chances of overtaking Real Madrid at the top when the two sides meet in their final group game in Madrid on December 9.
``It`s a bit unreal to think that any team can go to Madrid and win by three goals. As long as Marseille and Real were drawing 1-1, we knew then that we could go there and play for first place. But now it seems unreal,`` he said.



Mourinho was unconcerned that defender Jorge Costa and Maniche Ribeiro had deliberately picked up yellow cards in order to serve suspensions before the knock-out stage.



``It`s not worth the risk to field all of our players and not be better prepared for the last 16. Porto won`t back-pedal in Madrid, but the away (League) game beforehand against Maritimo and the home game against Beira-Mar afterwards are much more important,`` he said.



Partizan coach Lothar Matthaeus said he was ``ashamed`` of some of his players. ``Porto won with just 50 percent possession. We spent a long time preparing for this tie, both physically and tactically, and we knew very well what Porto`s failings were,`` the former German international said.



``I can`t accept how some players played. Today didn`t turn out as we had prepared in training, as some were below their best. They spoke and gesticulated a lot but lacked determination and played little.``


Bureau Report