Mourinho Declares Himself Chelsea’s Greatest On Stamford Bridge Return

‎José Mourinho described himself as “the biggest one” as he looked back on his record-breaking Chelsea spell ahead of another return to Stamford Bridge.

‎The man once known as the “special one” will now lead Benfica there for Tuesday night’s Champions League clash. He even revived one of his old trademark lines to set the tone before kick-off.

‎Mourinho, who joined Benfica just 11 days ago after being dismissed by Fenerbahce, expects a warm reception from Chelsea fans as he begins this new chapter.

‎Mourinho’s Stamford Bridge returns have not always been welcoming, with the low point arriving in March 2017 when Manchester United’s FA Cup defeat saw him jeered by Chelsea fans.

‎Despite the hostility, he reminded supporters that his record spoke for itself. Having delivered three Premier League titles in two spells, he famously declared that until another manager won four, “Judas is No 1.”

‎“Chelsea is a winning machine that has had in the past two or three years a moment without trophies,” Mourinho said on Monday night, back at the stadium where he gave his original ‘special one’ press conference.

‎“But Chelsea won something before my time, and then we started winning, and then my team kept winning, and then a transformation of new teams, new coaches, more trophies, European trophies, the biggest one, and the Champions League. So Chelsea is a winning machine. I am the biggest one until someone wins four.”

‎Mourinho returns to Stamford Bridge again

‎Mourinho has returned to Stamford Bridge with Inter, Manchester United, and Tottenham, but his only win in seven visits came with Inter in 2010 on their way to Champions League glory.

‎This time, the mood was different as he addressed the media with a sense of warmth. Fittingly, he spoke from the Drake Suite, surrounded by giant photos of his three Premier League title triumphs with Chelsea.

‎Mourinho’s family home remains close by in south-west London and he said that his son came every weekend to the ground.

‎He also talked about how the club would be “my Chelsea before the game and my Chelsea after,” although by dint of the terms of engagement, he stressed it would be “my Benfica” during it.

‎“I’ve already played here with Tottenham, Man United and Inter Milan,” Mourinho said.

‎“In 90 minutes, I didn’t think where I was or with whom I was playing. So I say: ‘I am not a blue any more … I am [Benfica] red now.’ And I want to win.

‎“But of course, I will always be a blue. I am part of their history and they are part of my history. I helped them to become a bigger Chelsea and they helped me to become a bigger José. me

‎”When I say I am not a blue, I hope everybody understands me. I am speaking about the job that I have to do.”

‎“But in relation to these pictures [in the Drake suite] … there are not many clubs that do this. In many, many clubs, it looks like there is a fear of what happened in the past, and there is continuous transformation of pictures; sometimes it looks like they want to delete people who made history in the clubs. I think this shows that Chelsea is really a big club because big clubs are also about principles.”

‎Mourinho brushed off any previous acrimony at Stamford Bridge, recalling one episode that he claimed was misinterpreted. It came in October 2018 when his United team conceded a stoppage-time equaliser to the Chelsea of Maurizio Sarri.

‎“When something happened, it was that one member of the Chelsea dugout insulted me,” Mourinho said, meaning Sarri’s coach, Marco Ianni.

‎“I reacted and people thought I was reacting to the Chelsea goal because they scored in the last minute. It was not the case.

‎“The coach was Sarri and he was absolutely top in the way he reacted to his assistant. Also, Chelsea was top in the way they dealt with it.

‎”And I was also top because Chelsea wanted to sack the guy and I told them no. Not because of something that happened in a football match. Leave the man in peace and on the bench. Everybody can do shit things.

‎“I don’t think Chelsea fans boo me [on Tuesday night]. At least on the street, they are the ones that disturb me all the time for pictures and autographs.”