Chelsea v Levski Sofia:Safe in the knowledge that Chelsea have sealed their passage to the knock-out stages with a game to spare, Jose Mourinho yesterday admitted he would "love it" if Benfica and Porto were to eliminate Manchester United and Arsenal from the competition tomorrow night.

Chelsea approach their final Group A game with Levski Sofia at Stamford Bridge this evening guaranteed a place in the last 16, whereas United, at home to Benfica, and Arsenal, away to Porto, must both avoid defeat to secure their path to the second phase.

Despite admitting that both sides' elimination would worsen his team's Premiership prospects, the Chelsea manager did not hide his delight at the thought of the Portuguese representatives winning both ties.

"Absolutely," he said when asked if he would be rooting for his compatriots. "I would love them to win, for sure. If Manchester United went out it would negatively affect our fight for the Premier League . . .

"If Manchester United and Arsenal go into the Uefa Cup maybe they will decide to rest one or two players because it's an easy competition to play in. So from the Chelsea point of view, thinking about the Premiership, it would be better for us if they both qualify and go through. But if I am a patriot I must admit I want Benfica and Porto to win."

Mourinho described the penalties awarded to United (one) and Arsenal (two) at the weekend as "nothing new" but he has warned Cristiano Ronaldo, whose tumble led to United's opener against Middlesbrough at the Riverside, there will be no such luck against Benfica. "They know Ronaldo well and they know how to deal with him so it's not so easy to get one of these penalties," he said.

"In the Lisbon derby on Friday Benfica beat Sporting 2-0 away and were magnificent. If they go to Manchester and play at their best level they can beat them. It's not easy, but they can do it."

However, Mourinho is less hopeful of a surprise between Porto and Arsenal. "Porto are in a position where a draw is enough and when a draw is enough you never know what will happen. You think, 'Do I play to win, do I play for a draw, do I try to come first in the group? Do I gamble a little bit to be first or do I play it safe to be second?' It wouldn't surprise me if Porto and Arsenal qualified together."

For the visit of Levski, who sit bottom of the qualifying group without a point, the Chelsea manager will rest Claude Makelele and Ashley Cole, and John Terry is suspended. If Werder Bremen were to claim a shock victory away to Barcelona in the group's other tie, Chelsea, who like Bremen have 10 points, would have to beat Levski to finish top.

"In this game we cannot relax because we need the result," said Mourinho. "In many of the groups 10 points is enough to finish first; in this group it is not. We need a result so we need to play with our best players.

"I don't think it's a big difference between first and second in the group - Inter Milan or Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or Olympic Lyon, in a lot of the groups you cannot say which one is more difficult. The good thing is the first-place team plays the second game at home, which can be a little advantage, so we have that responsibility."

Wayne Bridge, the former Southampton defender who last week signed a four-year contract to stay at Stamford Bridge and replaces Cole tonight, has insisted he will not settle for a role as second fiddle to the former Arsenal full-back.

"I don't see myself just sitting behind Ashley. It looks like he's going to play against Arsenal on Sunday but I'm just going to keep playing well and [ Mourinho] will have to give me reasons why I don't play if that's so."