• Premier League

Mourinho: Title would be highlight of career

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has claimed winning the Premier League title this season would be the "greatest achievement" of his decorated coaching career.

Not for the first time since his return to Chelsea last summer, Mourinho has suggested all the cards are stacked in Manchester City's favour in the most unpredictable English title race in years, in comments that may be viewed by cynics as his latest contribution to an ongoing battle of minds with City boss Manuel Pellegrini.

Little love is lost between the Chelsea and City managers as they go head-to-head for Premier League glory, with Mourinho's bid to pile all the pressure onto City evident in his latest proclamations.

"It would be my greatest achievement if we beat City to the title this year," Mourinho is quoted in the Daily Mirror.

"We were champions before, but we were the team [ready] to be champions, to attack the title, especially in our second season when we killed it from day one. This [current Chelsea side] is a team in development and if you win titles in this time, it is not handed to you. It would be a super achievement.

"City, in terms of power of the squad, are in another dimension. You can't compare their situation with any other club. Some people disagree or some managers feel they shouldn't say it, but I say what I feel: City are different.

"It's not about having quality players, other clubs also have quality, but Man City are in the perfect moment. They don't have old players or young players -- the only young player is Matija Nastasic and he plays sometimes. After that, all of them are between 25 and 29, with everyone in the best moment.

"They have a couple of players that are smaller and very talented, but they have a number in the team that are big, physically. They have four strikers, all of them are top class and the one [chosen to be] on the pitch is always scoring."

Mourinho has muttered a similar mantra throughout this campaign, as he has done his best to dampen down expectations surrounding his team's title chances, with his comments last month suggesting a top four finish was the only realistic target in his sights another example of his mind games.

"I think City have to do the same thing Chelsea did. Chelsea won three Premier Leagues in six years, the Double, many FA Cups, Champions League semi-finals and finals," he added.

"They built a team for that with huge investment for three-four consecutive years, transfer window after window, improving their squad. They are in another dimension, but football is more than that and because of that no one knows what is going to happen."

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