The dressing room was in shock.
Some Chelsea gamers have been in tears and others hid their faces as Jose Mourinho went to every of them to say his goodbyes.
Eighteen years have handed since however that “unhappy day” on the coaching floor caught with Salomon Kalou.
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“It was not only a supervisor we have been shedding,” mentioned Kalou, who performed for Chelsea from 2006-2012. “It was an incredible individual, a mentor, somebody who was prepared that will help you and battle for you.
“The rationale why he is the ‘Particular One’ is as a result of he impacts individuals. He brings one thing very particular to a membership.”
Not everybody has such fond reminiscences of Mourinho, after all, from his subsequent or, certainly, a number of the golf equipment he has managed since.
But Benfica will hope the aura returns on the largest stage of all – the Champions League – as Mourinho brings again to Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.
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And the 62-year-old will not simply be content material with taking a seat at Europe’s prime desk once more, as shut buddy Jose Peseiro defined.
“He needs to go and beat Chelsea to point out everybody ‘I’m right here’,” he mentioned.
An surprising alternative
Such a prospect felt a good distance off when final month.
However an surprising alternative arrived earlier than even Mourinho may have imagined – from the membership that eradicated his former facet within the Champions League qualifiers.
Mourinho was in Barcelona along with his spouse Matilde when the decision got here from Benfica president Rui Costa.
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“Is it price speaking?” Costa requested him, after dismissing Bruno Lage following
It confirmed the tough state of affairs Costa was in earlier than subsequent month’s presidential elections.
However Mourinho was receptive.
In reality, Costa later claimed – in an interview with TVI – he had agreed a two-year deal price about 3m euros (£2.6m) web initially, rising to 4m euros (£3.5m) subsequent season. That could be a fraction of what he earned at his peak.
The contract features a break clause that can allow both occasion to terminate the deal 10 days after the ultimate recreation of the season if they need.
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Twenty-five years on from his first transient spell at Benfica, which began with one president and ended with one other, Mourinho was prepared to stroll into the attention of one other political storm in Lisbon.
However this can be a totally different Mourinho, in comparison with the relative novice who had by no means beforehand managed a membership in 2000.
Few know that higher than Jose Morais – his assistant at Chelsea, Actual Madrid and Inter Milan.
“Jose brings greater than expertise, ambition and a profitable mentality,” he mentioned. “He brings the power to form a workforce into one thing larger than the sum of its components.
“When he first got here to Benfica, no person actually knew what he was able to and, but, he lit a hearth.”
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Mourinho went on to win 26 main trophies at Porto, Chelsea, Actual Madrid, Inter Milan, Manchester United and Roma.
However it’s a decade since he lifted a league title. It has been over 5 years since he took cost of a match within the Champions League correct. And he’s coming off the again of a bruising spell at Fenerbahce.
Can he actually roll again the years?
Nonetheless brutally trustworthy
The hair is whiter now.
Mourinho has portrayed himself as “extra altruistic” and “much less selfish”, which can little question amuse those that have adopted his profession.
The Benfica supervisor has even insisted he has not returned to his homeland to “wage struggle” after reaching out to Porto president Andre Villas-Boas – his former colleague – and Sporting president Frederico Varandas.
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But the obsession stays.
“Others settle for defeat, however he fights that,” Peseiro mentioned. “Even now, he does not settle for shedding. He lives for soccer.
“Usually, while you age, you perceive. ‘I lose, no drawback, it is life’ – however he is nonetheless the identical. He has much less mates than others as a result of the main focus is soccer, soccer, soccer. He is a passionate man. He does not prefer to lose. He needs to win.”
It will not come as a shock, then, that in his first week at Benfica, Mourinho took goal on the video assistant referee.
He additionally spoke on to referee Sergio Guelho at half-time to ask why he had not booked Rio Ave goalkeeper Cezary Miszta for slowing the sport down throughout a 1-1 draw.
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And he isn’t precisely been shy in critiquing his personal facet in public, claiming they have been “naive” after conceding a late equaliser.
Sound acquainted?
Kalou was 20 when he joined Chelsea and walked right into a heavyweight dressing room contemporary from profitable back-to-back Premier League titles below Mourinho.
The Ivorian rapidly realised his new supervisor was a straight talker.
“What I preferred about him probably the most was his honesty,” he mentioned. “He won’t ever sugar-coat something. As a participant, I revered that.”
Kalou felt the total drive of Mourinho’s sharp tongue even after the Portuguese left.
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After watching Kalou rating towards his Inter Milan facet, in 2010, Mourinho knocked on the Chelsea workforce bus post-match and requested his former participant to come back exterior.
“Whenever you have been with me, you did not rating like this,” he advised him. “Watch out!”
Soccer has modified, after all.
However Mourinho made it clear to his Benfica gamers following his appointment that he could be “very direct”.
In addition to pledging he would say a “lot of fine issues”, he additionally vowed to inform them “loads of dangerous issues”.
‘Jose’s fireplace has not dimmed’
A fluke of the fixture calendar means Mourinho is already making ready to take his Benfica squad to Stamford Bridge.
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And historical past tells us it is hardly ever uninteresting when he’s within the opposition dugout.
Mourinho declared after Chelsea followers turned on him throughout his time at Manchester United.
One other time, the Portuguese – whose household house will not be removed from the stadium – held up three fingers to indicate the variety of titles he received on the membership.
He even went on to take the Spurs job in 2019, having as soon as claimed he couldn’t achieve this as a result of he “cherished Chelsea supporters an excessive amount of”.
Maybe, then, it isn’t a shock you will not discover a {photograph} of Chelsea’s most profitable supervisor on the legends wall exterior Stamford Bridge, and his trademark Armani overcoat will not be as outstanding within the membership’s museum because it as soon as was.
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However his contribution has not been forgotten.
Season ticket holder Tim Rolls has even predicted Mourinho will get a “very optimistic” reception on Tuesday.
“He did a lot for the membership,” he mentioned. “He received three league titles and turned the membership round. It is 20 years since that first league title below him.
“I do know he was supervisor of Spurs, however that was some time again and, should you have a look at within the spherical, he was an incredible factor for Chelsea Soccer Membership. I do not assume there might be any hostility in any respect.”
There’s definitely a distinct really feel to this recreation as Mourinho will not be managing a home rival.
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However the Benfica supervisor has already talked about “forgetting emotions”, which will not come as a shock to those that know him greatest.
“All of us evolve,” Morais mentioned. “Time asks that of us. However the ardour and ambition stay the identical. Jose’s fireplace has not dimmed.”
Extra reporting by Nizaar Kinsella