The English Premiership leaders' boss has criticised the Spanish giants' policy of buying up star players.

But Chelsea's Portuguese chief, speaking ahead of his side's League Cup semi-final second leg away to Beckham's former club Manchester United at Old Trafford on Wednesday, maintained no personal slight was intended.

"David Beckham is someone I respect as a man and as a player. He is the captain of England and has been a European champion.

"I have never been critical of him and reports that imply that are totally incorrect as I have never made any comments directly about him."

Looking ahead, Mourinho said his team now needed 11 wins from their last 14 games to make sure of the title.

Chelsea are 10 points clear of second-placed champions Arsenal at the top of the table following last weekend's 3-0 win against Portsmouth at Stamford Bridge - the Londoners seventh straight win without conceding a goal.

But they now face a tricky Old Trafford encounter with the tie still goalless after the first leg.

"I was very happy with our performance against Manchester United," said Mourinho, who last season guided Porto to the Champions League.

"They are a great team and they did very well to clear two of our shots off the line. If we score against them at Old Trafford, then we will give ourselves a good chance of going through, despite being away from home.

"We have a tough schedule coming up but we have lots of outstanding players and we must stay cool.

"We haven't won anything yet. There is a long way to go and I still believe, as I did at the beginning of the season, that we mustn't get carried away.

"We've not won the top English league for 50 years and are concentrating solely on that. We're out in front but we're still a long way away. We need 11 wins from 14 games and the run-in starts here."