It was not a vintage Chelsea performance but manager Jose Mourinho said his newly-crowned champions competed for the dignity of the Premier League in their 1-1 draw against Liverpool on Sunday.
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The visitors welcomed Chelsea on to the pitch with a guard of honour at Stamford Bridge and the hosts responded by taking the lead after five minutes when John Terry headed in from a corner.
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Visiting captain Steven Gerrard capitalised on some slack defending to nod home the equaliser just before halftime but neither side could make the decisive breakthrough in the second half.
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“It was a proper game. It was not a pre-season game. Both teams were trying to get a result. Were Chelsea at their top? No. But were we at a level where we show we want to compete? Clearly,” Mourinho told the BBC.
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“It’s normal, people like Jon Mikel Obi, Loic Remy, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, many weeks without playing, in the second half they felt it.
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“The second half was a bit difficult for us but we competed for what we have to compete for, the dignity of the Premier League.”
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