José Mourinho is back at Stamford Bridge for the Champions League, but this time in Benfica red, and not Chelsea blue. It’s a return loaded with scrutiny, and he knows it.
The Portuguese coach who twice won the Premier League with Chelsea will once again be on the touchline in west London but under very different circumstances.
Mourinho’s career is tied to Chelsea. His arrival in 2004 changed the club and his second spell brought more success. Stamford Bridge is where he rose to become a star coah in English football and the world.
That history led to his pre-match press conference being all the more eagerly awaited with many wondering how he would combine the respect he has for his past with the responsibilities of his current role.
He answered those questions head-on. “I feel at home here. But I’m not a Blue anymore… I am a Red now, and I want to win,” Mourinho said, as reported by Fabrizio Romano on X.
Joe Mourinho draws a line under his Chelsea past
At the same time, Mourinho didn’t shy away from giving a brutal assessment of Chelsea. He spoke of how the club had “lost direction” in recent years before praising Enzo Maresca for restoring structure and identity. He also pointed to the absence of Cole Palmer as a turning point in the tie, calling it a “tactical boost” for Benfica.
Mourinho’s comeback comes just weeks after his hiring at Benfica, a homecoming to a club where he became a manager for the first time. The Champions League draw places him straight into the crucible of competition against a side that he knows inside out.
For Benfica, it’s a test against a Premier League team and a chance to show early signs of progress under a manager with vast European experience.
On the pitch Benfica are underdogs but that’s territory Mourinho loves. His teams are usually compact, disciplined and dangerous on the counter attack.
He has attacking threats in Vangelis Pavlidis and Georgiy Sudakov, while Nicolas Otamendi brings leadership at the back. By saying he is now “a Red” Mourinho is trying to create a sense of unity as Benfica go into an environment he knows better than most.
But it’s the other way round for Chelsea. They are facing a manager who knows the Bridge and the fans better than anyone. As they say, his knowledge alone won’t win the game, but it’s a perspective most teams don’t have.