Jose Mourinho sends bold message to Chelsea and Enzo Maresca ahead of Benfica clash

Jose Mourinho insists he will always be Chelsea’s Special One - until someone wins four titles. Mourinho is heading back to Stamford Bridge to lead Benfica in an emotional return to the club where he won the Premier League three times during two glorious spells.

The new Benfica boss even said “Judas is No1” when he got booed by Chelsea fans when he returned with Manchester United in 2017. But now he can laugh it off and say he will always have Chelsea in his heart - and insists he is still their best manager.

Mourinho, who described himself as A Special One when he first arrived in English football in 2004, said: “Chelsea is a winning machine that had in the past two or years a moment without trophies.

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“But Chelsea won something before my time and then we start 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’m the biggest one until someone wins four.”

Mourinho actually praised the job that Enzo Maresca is doing at Chelsea and believes that, after winning the Club World Cup, they can win the Champions League this season. The Portuguese boss said: “That gold badge means a lot. It's the first time a club has won the new Club World Cup. Congratulations to them.

“The Champions League is much more difficult to win than the Club World Cup, of course it is. Chelsea has the potential to do it, I don't see any reason to say no, Chelsea can't do it.”

Chelsea are facing 74 charges and an FA and Premier League investigation into rule breaches on third party issues and strict agent rules which covers the period Mourinho was in charge.

There is no suggestion that Mourinho did anything wrong but he has been very outspoken in the past on Manchester City and their charges which could leave them facing a points deduction and record fine.

When asked about the Chelsea charges, Mourinho said: “Not Man City? I have no idea about it. I have no idea what the charges are. I will try to understand them.”

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