Liverpool was not the best: Mourinho

Liverpool were not the best team in Europe last season despite winning the Champions League, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said on Tuesday.

Mourinho, furthermore, is still disputing the validity of Luis Garcia's controversial winner that sent Liverpool into the final at Chelsea's expense.

"Liverpool weren't the best team in Europe," Mourinho said on the eve of Chelsea's Group G match against Liverpool at Anfield in this season's Champions League.

"We weren't the best team when I won the competition with Porto two seasons ago," he told reporters.

"Last season, the team that played the most beautiful football was Barcelona. They played fantastic football.

"Liverpool also deserve credit for what they did in the final, but they beat Chelsea without scoring a goal."

Liverpool came from three goals down to draw 3-3 with AC Milan after extra time in the May final in Istanbul and win the trophy on penalties.

They had won their semi-final tie against Chelsea 1-0 on aggregate, after a 0-0 draw in London, thanks to Garcia's goal in the second leg at Anfield that Mourinho insists was cleared by William Gallas before it crossed the line.

"I have to accept they beat us, but they didn't score a goal," he said.

Mourinho dismissed the notion that Chelsea are looking for revenge for their semi-final defeat.

"We beat them twice in the league, once in the Carling (League) Cup and they beat us once so it's 3-1 to us," he said.

Mourinho will not be panicked if Chelsea lose on Wednesday. It would be their first defeat of the season after victories in seven Premier League matches and one in the Champions League.

"We want to get nine points as that should be enough to get us through the group, and we have three," he said.

"So if we go home with six points, it's fantastic. If we go home with four points, it's not bad; and if we go home with three, it's not a disaster.

"Last year we won the group and had to play Barcelona, so winning the group is not always important."