Southampton boss Ronald Koeman has defended Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho amid criticism of the Portuguese.

The 52-year-old and his team were maligned for their approach to the second leg of their Champions League aggregate defeat to Paris Saint-Germain as they seemingly attempted to influence the decisions of the referee during the game.

However, Koeman has insisted that he has no problems with Mourinho's tactics because of his success in the game, and feels that some people may have the wrong idea of 'The Special One' due to his interviews on television.

The Dutchman told reporters: "In my opinion he's a nice person but I've got the possibilities to have time to talk about different things in life. Maybe your opinion is different than if you see someone on the television. Maybe one side is what he likes to say or what he likes to do after the game.

"The other is the relationship between two people.I think that's the difference but sometimes he is playing a game. Everybody knows that but if it is done in a respectful way then I don't have problems with that. He's a great person and a very successful manager. He always has a good spirit in his teams.

"If you speak to players who have worked with Mourinho, they are always very positive about it and impressed with the way he does his job. In every sport and every business if you are one of the top managers then you have to live with critics, both negative and positive but if you look at his CV, it tells you enough."

The Saints face Chelsea in their Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge later today.