Benfica coach Jose Mourinho remains a man with opinions, and the new Benfica boss isn’t shy about sharing them ahead of a Champions League reunion with old buddies Chelsea on Tuesday in London.
Mourinho, 62, is back home in Portugal for the first time since he masterminded Porto’s Champions League triumph in the mid-2000s, as he joined the club that gave him his first managerial post back in 2000.
Benfica fired Bruno Lage last week, and Mourinho found a new gig for the first time since his sacking by Fenerbahce early this season.
Mourinho’s early days in the post have been good, as Benfica won at AVS and rew Rio Ave before beating Gil Vicente 2-1 on Friday.
Now he meets a Chelsea club he loves, having won many trophies in blue, including three Premier Leagues, an FA Cup, and three League Cups.
Mourinho did not shield his emotions in discussing Chelsea, nor did he hide his happiness that Benfica won’t have to face ‘phenomenal’ Cole Palmer, who is out with a groin injury.
But he did say that he believes Chelsea lost their way for a while when Roman Abramovich had to let go of the club in 2022.
“Chelsea. (Roman) Abramovich’s Chelsea, my Chelsea, the Chelsea we built and lasted for many years was a winning club,” Mourinho said, via Metro. “It was winning everything with me and then with Ancelotti, with Conte and with Tuchel.”
“Chelsea was a winning machine. Every season, Chelsea was winning. Then there was a big change with crazy investment and a period of a few years where it looked like they lost direction, with too many players, too many millions, accumulation of players and a team without a clear philosophy. For a couple of years, it was hard. For one who loves the club, it was hard.”
Mourinho said that Chelsea are now in good hands with Enzo Maresca, praising the Blues’ current boss and saying their Conference League and Club World Cup triumphs will help reclaim a standard in London.
“Maresca arrived and step by step, the puzzle was made,” Mourinho said. “Even the Conference League is a fantastic competition for a team like that to win. It gives you that first cup and the philosophy and the culture of the club for winning. … Then they go to the States and come back with the big badge on the chest, so now they have a good, good team.’
Besides some adoration from the home crowd and a reminder of big days?
Benfica are unbeaten in league play and Mourinho’s responsible for two wins and a draw out of the club’s 5W-2D start.
But he’s here to deliver the goods in this competition, one where he’s Portuguese royalty after leading Porto to perhaps the most famous and certainly one of the unlikeliest Champions League triumphs in history.
Benfica lost at home to Qarabag in their first UCL match day, a massive upset given the near-4,000-mile away day for the Azerbaijani visitors. With Chelsea and Newcastle next, you can see the allure in bringing a manager so familiar with the Premier League.
They’re led by Greek striker Vangelis Pavlidis, who scored against Qarabag and has another five goals plus two assists in 563 league minutes. Ex-Man City man Nicolas Otamendi leads their back four, while Dodi Lukebakio is among the more familiar players on their team.
Benfica will also hope that they are getting Chelsea at the right time, as the Blues have struggled with just one win over their last five outings — a come-from-behind League Cup win at lower-tier side Lincoln City. With Levi Colwill and Cole Palmer out, might this be one more time Mourinho will revel in a Stamford Bridge evening?
