Mourinho Supporting Chelsea in the Champions League Final

Real Madrid boss José Mourinho, who saw his side knocked out of the Champions League by Bayern Munich, says he will support his former club Chelsea in the Champions League finals against the German giants on 19 May at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany.

"I obviously want Chelsea to win, they were heroes to beat Barcelona with 10 men," said Mourinho, according to a BBC report.

Real Madrid were forced out of the European competition after losing to Bayern Munich in a dramatic penalty shoot-out in the second leg. While Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo and Brazilian sensation Kaká saw their penalties saved by Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, Spanish defenderSergio Ramos skied his shot over the cross bar. Munich put enough in the back of Madrid's net to win the shooutout 3-1. However, Mourinho was quick to defend his players saying his team were under "brutal" pressure during the spot kicks.

"I'm proud of my players and we have to be strong but we were lacking freshness in an enormous game. We lost, we are sad and they are happy but that's football," said the Real Madrid boss, according to BBC.

The 49 year old Portuguese boss, who managed Chelsea from 2004 to 2007, earlier hit back at people criticising Chelsea's tactics against Barcelona and praised his former boys for their performance against the Catalans at the Nou Camp on Tuesday.

"John [Terry] is missing but Chelsea are there [in the final] and that is the most important thing. I just hope it is a good final and of course I want the Blues to win, even though I have a lot of respect for the reds. I have a blue rib, still. Inter and Chelsea mean a lot to me," he said, according to a Guardian report.

"I think Chelsea's boys were heroes [against Barcelona], absolute heroes. Some people think they are the masters of the game and they will criticise Chelsea in the same way that they criticised Inter two years ago, but they know nothing. Nothing," he added.

"They know nothing about character and personality. They know nothing about the effort or what it is to resist physically, emotionally and technically, with 10 men. They know nothing about organisation. They know nothing. That's why my heroes at Chelsea are in my mind and why Chelsea deserve to be in the final. One of the great things about football is that it is unpredictable," he further added.