Mourinho believes Porto can knock Liverpool out of Europe

Jose Mourinho believes Porto “have a chance” of progressing past Liverpool in the Champions League.

Porto face overwhelming favourites Liverpool in the quarter-finals of the competition, with the winner facing either Manchester United or Barcelona.

It is a meeting of the European champions of 2004 and 2005, but Liverpool are widely expected to advance.

The Reds knocked Porto out en-route to last season’s final with a comprehensive 5-0 win on aggregate, with the Portuguese side forced to “play for pride” in the second leg of their last-16 tie.

Mourinho’s former side are also locked in a battle for the Portuguese title, similar to Liverpool in the Premier League, but the former Manchester United manager holds hope for his compatriots.

“FC Porto have a chance,” Mourinho said at the ANTF Coaches Forum, according to Portuguese paper Record.

“Compared with last season, I think Sérgio Conceição will ask himself questions about what happened in order to do something different this time around.

“The tie is open and what happened last year, I believe, can play for Porto in both games.

“Liverpool have an absolutely fantastic individual quality. They are disputing the league title, which means that in the previous game or between the two games, they will not rest players.”

Mourinho also discusses his own future prospects, reiterating his hope of being employed once more this summer.

“I would like to try to win a third Champions League with a third club and to win a fifth league in a different fifth country,” he said.

“But I do not always have what I want and my ambitions do not end there.”