Jose Mourinho is set for another dramatic reunion with Chelsea as he prepares to lead Benfica into Tuesday’s Champions League group stage fixture at Stamford Bridge. The 62-year-old Portuguese manager, a figure synonymous with Chelsea’s golden era under Roman Abramovich, insisted during his pre-match press conference that he anticipates applause rather than hostility from the home crowd.
Mourinho, who famously introduced himself to the Premier League as the “special one,” guided Chelsea to three Premier League titles, three League Cups, and an FA Cup in two separate spells, transforming the club from a team of nearly-men into serial winners. Despite those achievements, fans turned on him during his later visits as manager of Manchester United and Tottenham, greeting him with chants of “you’re not special anymore.”
Now back in west London at the helm of Benfica after a short-lived stint with Turkish side Fenerbahce, Mourinho sought to balance his professional duty with his deep-rooted history at Chelsea. He initially remarked that he was “not a blue anymore” in reference to his current job, but quickly softened his tone, stressing that Chelsea will always hold a place in his heart. “Of course I will always be a Blue. I am part of their history and they are part of mine. I helped them become a bigger Chelsea and they helped me become a bigger Jose. It was a happy marriage,” he told reporters.
To honour his legacy, the club decorated the Ted Drake Suite at Stamford Bridge with photographs of his defining moments, a gesture Mourinho said reflected Chelsea’s stature as a club unafraid to celebrate its past. “Sometimes it looks like other clubs want to delete people who made history. Chelsea shows it is really a big club,” he said.
Though his competitive edge was clear, Mourinho avoided heaping pressure on current Blues manager Enzo Maresca, who has been under scrutiny after consecutive league defeats to Manchester United and Brighton. He praised Maresca for restoring Chelsea’s identity with Champions League qualification and a Conference League triumph last season, though not without a cutting aside. “The Conference League is an easy competition for a big club to win. I did it with Roma. Champions League is much more difficult,” he quipped.
When asked if he still considered himself Chelsea’s greatest manager, Mourinho was characteristically unapologetic: “I am the biggest one until someone wins four titles. Chelsea won before me, then they stopped winning, and then my team kept winning.”
Despite not lifting a league trophy in ten years, Mourinho continues to command attention with the same charisma that defined his early Chelsea years. After addressing the media, he exchanged warm greetings with long-time acquaintances, posed for selfies and even embraced members of Chelsea’s communications staff before leaving with a grin.
As Benfica aim to make their mark in Europe, Mourinho’s return ensures the spotlight will shine as brightly on the man in the dugout as on the action on the pitch. For Chelsea fans, Tuesday night will be more than a Champions League fixture—it will be another chapter in their enduring and complex relationship with the “special one.”
