Mourinho might be in need of some sympathy if Chelsea's dismal week ends with Arsenal dealing a fatal blow to their slender hopes of overhauling leaders Manchester United.

United can extend their advantage over Chelsea to eight points by beating Manchester City on Saturday but, regardless of that result, Mourinho's side need to win against Arsenal to keep the title race alive.

There is no love lost between the two London clubs and, after being on the receiving end of Mourinho's acerbic tongue several times, it would be no surprise if Gunners manager Arsene Wenger was relishing the chance to kick Chelsea while they are down.

But Wenger insists he can relate to Mourinho's misery after a traumatic five days that saw Chelsea lose more ground to United and then suffer a heartbreaking Champions League semifinal exit against Liverpool.

After all, Wenger saw Arsenal's season disintegrate within two weeks as they lost the League Cup final to Chelsea and then crashed out of the FA Cup and Champions League.

"They are certainly disappointed because it's a terrible blow to go out of the Champions League," Wenger said. "The feeling that you are on a high and living in a world with a lot of expectations suddenly goes and it's a very big blow.

"I do have sympathy for them. Players are players and you always understand how painful it is to go out of the competitions - that applies to players, coaches or whoever."

Wenger believes Mourinho will find it hard to lift his players after the massive blow of effectively conceding two trophies in such a short space of time.

"In the League Cup final we could have scored the second goal but we didn't," he said. "The effect of that was terrible. From that game, we lost Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure to suspension, we went out of the FA Cup three days later and then we were under tremendous pressure against PSV Eindhoven and in one minute it was over.

"We played our whole season in that one game and it was terrible for us. It is impossible to say how long it will take Chelsea to recover.

"I think it took us three weeks to recover. We played our games to win but there was something not there in our play. Many teams just collapse when they go out of the Champions League."

Ashley Cole's first return to Arsenal since his acrimonious departure in August will give this London derby an extra edge.

The England left-back can expect a torrid reception from Arsenal fans angry at his departure to their bitter rivals. He was dubbed "Cashley" because his excessive wage demands were at the root of the move to Stamford Bridge, and Wenger admits he had no option but to sell him.

"We made some mistakes which were psychological," Wenger said. "At some stages, there was not enough desire on our part to bridge the gap between him and us.

"He felt that we let him down but that was not our view. Letting him go was the best way of dealing with that situation because if you have a player who does not want to play for you then you always give in."

While Chelsea are in danger of finishing the season on a low note, Joe Cole is just glad to be back after knee and foot injuries ruled him out for most of the campaign.

I am really excited about the end of the season," he said. "But for me the task is to get fully match fit and you only get that from playing matches. There is simply no substitute.

"You just want to show desire every day, even when you're injured. Many people didn't expect me to be playing against this season but I wanted to prove them wrong, to come back and help the lads.

"I hadn't played any football for five months when the manager told me at half-time against Valencia in the Champions League that I was going on. I can't tell you just how good that felt. It was a bit like making your debut for a new club."