What Mourinho wants from the Manchester derby

The Blues can seal the title with victory but the manager is more concerned with his team's situation and wants the runners-up slot, in the face of strong competition from Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool. Clearly, it is a case of bidding to obtaining a positive result from the Etihad Stadium fixture.

"My motivation is to finish second," Jose said. "I still have the motivation to finish [in the] top four, because mathematically it is not done. It is a good distance but not mathematically done. 

"So that's the first objective but, after that, I don't hide that in practical terms and next season, especially next season to finish second, third or fourth is exactly the same, because you don't win the title, but you qualify directly to the Champions League group phase.

"However, I prefer to finish third not fourth and I prefer to finish second not third and, because we are in the second position for many, many, many, many months. 

"Obviously, it's our objective to fight, to fight for that and for that we need points, so my objective for tomorrow is to try to have the points that can help us to finish second."