Enzo Maresca reveals key reason why Jose Mourinho can break unwanted streak vs Chelsea
Chelsea will be playing Benfica in the Champions League in hopes of making up for their 3-1 loss to Brighton on Sunday.
Last time out in the Champions League, Chelsea lost to Bayern Munich, 3-0, and Enzo Maresca’s side are winless in their three games since.
Chelsea’s 3-1 loss to Brighton was another woeful defensive display, with Trevoh Chalobah getting sent off following a quick counterattack.
Chalobah’s red card was a repeat of Robert Sanchez’s catastrophic sending off a week prior, when Chelsea lost 2-1 to Man United, once again falling to a counterattack.
Enzo Maresca lays down early excuses ahead of Jose Mourinho and Chelsea’s reunion
Counterattacks will surely be a focus of Jose Mourinho’s Benfica setup, and Chelsea fans will be all too familiar with his style.
Maresca doesn’t see it that way, though, discussing the difficulties of facing Mourinho so quickly after he joined Benfica.
Maresca spoke in the buildup to Chelsea’s game against Benfica, saying: “It is probably a little bit more difficult to prepare because they just played three or four games under Jose Mourinho. And the games I watched before were under Bruno Lage.”
Mourinho is eyeing a win on his Stamford Bridge return, a ground where he spent five years as a manager across two spells.
Jose Mourinho looks to break unwanted Chelsea streak
Playing Chelsea hasn’t been happy hunting though for the former Blues boss, with Mourinho going winless in his last seven against the West London club.
Mourinho’s record when visiting Stamford Bridge is woeful, picking up one win as Inter manager in 2009-10 thanks to a Samuel Eto’o goal.
| Jose Mourinho away at Chelsea | Result | Competition |
| Chelsea vs Internazionale | 0-1 | Champions League |
| Chelsea vs Manchester United | 4-0 | Premier League |
| Chelsea vs Manchester United | 1-0 | FA Cup |
| Chelsea vs Manchester United | 1-0 | Premier League |
| Chelsea vs Manchester United | 2-2 | Premier League |
| Chelsea vs Tottenham | 2-0 | Premier League |
| Chelsea vs Tottenham | 0-0 | Premier League |
None of Mourinho’s visits as Man United manager yielded a win, with two 1-0 losses and a 4-0 hammering coming before a 2-2 draw in the 2018-19 season.
While at Tottenham, it was more of the same with Mourinho losing 2-0 and drawing 0-0 with Chelsea on his returns to Stamford Bridge.
Mourinho will hope for better fortunes on Wednesday, while Maresca will hope his side can nullify Benfica’s threatening counterattacks.