Manchester United's Manager, Jose Mourinho has started his usual mind games after being drawn against his former club Chelsea in the FA Cup.
Mourinho's Manchester United side came from behind to beat Blackburn and were then handed a return to Stamford Bridge – where they were hammered 4-0 earlier this season.
And Mourinho wasted no time in trying to get inside the minds of Chelsea's players by declaring them Premier League champions already and claiming he has no time to think about the FA Cup tie.
After Zlatan Ibrahimovic came off the bench to score his 24th goal of the season and rescue United from a replay they dreaded, Mourinho tried to play down the significance of drawing Chelsea.
Asked for his reaction to facing his old club again, Mourinho said: “No reaction.
“I have to play Saint-Etienne, I have to play the EFL Cup final, I have to play hopefully another opponent in the Europa League.
“I have to fight for a top-four position in the Premier League. I have so many things to think about.
''Chelsea can only think about that [the FA Cup] because they are champions and they have nothing else to fight for.
''The match is in one month’s time, so I don’t want to think about it.
"We're going to fight for the FA Cup, but the League Cup is the one we have a 50 per cent possibility to win.
''And the next one is to get a result against St Etienne on Wednesday and be in the last 16 of the Europa League.”
United have not won at Chelsea since October 2012 and Mourinho was humiliated on his last visit there in October, Antonio Conte's side subjecting him to his heaviest Premier League defeat.
Mourinho's side went behind to a Danny Graham goal in the 17th minute, with Marcus Rashford equalising before Ibrahimovic plundered the winner with 13 minutes left.
United boss Mourinho admitted the upsets in the fifth round - in particular non-League Lincoln knocking out Burnley – had focused his players' minds ahead of the clash with Championship strugglers Rovers.
“They really felt it was a difficult match,” said Mourinho. “What happened yesterday, with every Premier League team in difficult situations, was one more alert.
''The players knew it was difficult and came with the right attitude.”
Mourinho, already facing fixture pile-up with United fighting on four fronts, admitted a replay was the last thing he and his players needed, although he conceded Blackburn deserved a second chance.
"Blackburn probably deserved to go back to Old Trafford, but it’s probably better for them so they can focus on a very difficult Championship," said Mourinho.
"I really believed that a second match at Old Trafford would be a disaster.
We have some players on the bench ready to play, but a second leg at Old Trafford would be bad."
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