They have a lot of stars but this season they will finish second. They won’t win anything.”Jose Mourinho treats everybody on the same level and that, I think, is really important for the squad. Every day we try to give the maximum to be in the squad for the weekend. “What is more important,” he says, “is how you manage your team And I think he manages his team very well The best example is Real Madrid.

Did they want a career of regrets? “I think we realised we could do something,” Gallas says when reminded of that address “Now we train and we train for something We train because we want to win some trophies The message from the boss was a good one. We want to win every game and, if we draw, we are disappointed.”Mourinho was the manager Gallas had been waiting for all his life and he brushes aside suggestions that Chelsea’s real advantage is their money. And I don’t want to have any regrets.”Jose Mourinho said something similar to the Chelsea players when he arrived as manager in the summer of 2004 They were good players But they had not won anything. “But it’s important to be a good player for 10 years.” Every week, Gallas adds, he wants to “push myself” “I want to give the maximum over the 10 years Now I’m 28 so, say, another six years I want to give the maximum Because, after football, when it’s finished, it’s finished. “For me every player can be a good player for maybe one year,” he says. Last year against Liverpool [in the semi-final] we did not play Against Barcelona in the second leg, we did not play It’s very sad because in the big games you want to enjoy it Maybe sometimes you don’t know why Maybe the pressure is too high But now we have the experience.

I think next season we are going to do better.”Next season Gallas always does better And better And better. “We lost,” says Gallas of the tie, “and for two, three days the atmosphere was not good.” He leans forward in his chair and attempts to explain the defeat It’s rare for him to grant an interview. His words carry even more weight because, softly spoken, he thinks hard about what he says.”We did not play well and that was the problem I don’t know why. It is not the first time we played like that in a big competition.

She’s just four.”
The victory was important for other reasons. Three days earlier Ernest had also been in the Nou Camp when Chelsea exited the Champions’ League against Barcelona. She doesn’t live with me and I was so happy to score while she was here.” Gallas pauses, smiling when it is suggested that she will now expect him to repeat the feat every time she watches him “She doesn’t really realise what my job is. I think he was very happy.” Lea, his daughter by a previous relationship, was also pleased “It was special, very special for her. “He lives in the West Indies and sometimes he comes over for a special game,” Gallas says of his father “He left on Sunday morning.