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Mourinho return looms large as Maresca calls for calm
The Guardian
|September 30, 2025
Head coach accepts recent mistakes but rejects talk of a crisis with the Special One back to face Chelsea tonight
Enzo Maresca will get a fresh reminder of Jose Mourinho's legacy when Benfica visit West London tonight
(STEVEN PASTON/ PA)
nly league champions get their picture on the wall in the Drake Suite at Stamford Bridge.
The room is named after Ted Drake, the author of Chelsea's first title, and features images of a host of club legends: a beaming Carlo Ancelotti, one of Antonio Conte kissing the Premier League trophy and, as Enzo Maresca no doubt noted as he arrived to preview his young side's Champions League tie with Benfica, three photographs of the manager whose latest return to west London conjures wistful memories of when Chelsea were the most feared team in England.
Here comes the Special One. José Mourinho, who won three league titles across two spells at Chelsea, is in town with Benfica and will surely enjoy a wonderful reception. Maresca, meanwhile, inspires less warmth. He has taken Chelsea back into the Champions League, along with winning the Conference League and the Club World Cup, but does not have his name sung by fans and was booed after losing 3-1 to Brighton on Saturday.
This story is from the September 30, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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