Cristian Chivu, the Inter Milan coach, has commented on his side's meeting with Real Madrid tomorrow, Tuesday, in the first round of the first stage of the Champions League.
The short turnaround between Saturday's Serie A game and the European encounter complicated Inter's preparations, leaving Chivu wishing his players had more time to recover.
Chivu said, in the match press conference: "Perhaps I would have chosen an extra day of rest after a tiring and beautiful match like Saturday evening's. But this is the fixture schedule and we have to get used to it."
The Nerazzurri have built up plenty of Champions League pedigree in recent years, reaching the latter stages in the latest editions. Chivu knows there is little room for complacency under the competition's current format.
He added: "In the last two editions, we all realised how many points are needed to have a chance of finishing the league phase among the top eight."
He continued: "We also realised what failing to qualify means. The play-off matches are difficult, and winning in the Champions League is never guaranteed."
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Mourinho had expressed his surprise at Inter not winning the Champions League in recent years. Asked about those remarks, Chivu answered: "The question that should be put to him is whether he wants Inter to win."
He went on: "We have come a long way thanks to the competence of the directors and the ability of the players, who have shown important things over the past eight years."
He carried on: "With ideas and work, and through merit and ability, we are in a position that makes many people believe we are capable of achieving it."
He added: "The Champions League is harsh. Even the one who wins it has to get through certain moments and needs a bit of luck. We simply want to be competitors, to be up to the level of the competition and up to what the club has achieved in recent years."
Chivu also played down comparisons between his current side and the Inter team that Mourinho led to European glory, saying: "I never compare different teams or different periods. This team is trying to achieve things and has already achieved beautiful things."
He continued: "It is a group of wonderful players who themselves want to write pages of history. They have played two finals and lost them, but reaching two finals is never easy."
He carried on: "Every team lives in its own time. The comparisons are not right, but we want to write important pages."
The coach also faced questions about the number of points Inter need to secure one of the top eight places in the Champions League.
He concluded: "We need 16 points, and 15 points are not enough. We have to do our utmost. We must not become obsessed with getting points in certain matches."