Champions League & UEFA Cup draws: Jose Mourinho is hoping that Chelsea are paired with the Champions League favourites Barcelona, who are nine points clear at the top of the Spanish League, when the draw for the next stage of the competition is made today.
The Chelsea manager also said he was relieved that his club could not face Italian opposition because AC Milan, Inter and Juventus all finished top of their groups.
"I don't like to play against Italians," said Mourinho before claiming he wanted a chance to take on his former club. "For emotional reasons, and because people say they are the best team in Europe, I would like to play Barcelona."
Despite being linked with number of players worldwide, Mourinho again ruled out making any signings when the transfer window opens in January but confessed his frustration at not being able to sign Brazilian players.
He reminisced over the impact of Carlos Alberto, who scored Porto's opening goal in the Champions League final in May, and said he could not make a similar signing for Chelsea.
"It's not easy because of the work permit," he explained. "Only special Brazilians can play in English football. I can't find a young player like him. He's not an international. Brazil have two or three incredible young players."
More established players also prove elusive. "If you want a Brazilian, you can't just go for the big names. For example, Kaka. Are Milan open to selling him? I don't think so."
He also expressed his regret at the way in which the rules limit his substitutes' bench. "One of the most difficult things for me is having five players on the bench," he said. "I go to Arsenal and have to leave Joe Cole and (Alexei) Smertin in the stands. Why?"
The manager yesterday launched his biography, Jose Mourinho Made in Portugal, which chronicles his return to Portugal from Barcelona and his transformation of Porto into European Cup winners.
His self-confidence is often perceived as arrogance but, despite being present to talk about a book that charts his meteoric rise as a manager, he did display some humility.
He said he expected one day to be removed from his job because of his attitude. "Of course I'll be sacked one day," he said. "Bobby Robson was 62 or 64 when he was first sacked at Sporting Lisbon. He was leading the Portuguese League so you never know.
"Benfica half-sacked me. With my personality it will arrive for sure, but when it arrives I won't cry. In the next week, or maximum a month, I'll have another team."
He has no immediate plans to leave Chelsea, though. "When I decided to go to England - not Italy or Spain - my heart spoke well. I couldn't be happier than at Chelsea. After my actual contract ends, if I am here I would love it . . . I feel big passion from the Chelsea fans."
Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United make up the quartet of English Premiership clubs in today's Champions League draw and United manager Alex Ferguson believes fate will deliver his first European encounter with AC Milan.
"The only team we haven't played in my 18 years at United is AC Milan," the United manager said. "We did play them in the United States during our summer tour but I have a feeling fate will throw it that way."
Meanwhile, UEFA are to investigate whether technology should be brought in to help referees, notably to determine whether the ball has crossed the goal line.
The European governing body has postponed a decision on a plan to limit the influence of foreign players by introducing a quota of a minimum eight home-grown players in every first-team squad.
