Champions League: José Mourinho on Benfica, returning to Chelsea, and how he has evolved as a coach – interview
Tuesday, September 30, 2025
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"What I am today is what I am today, and not what I did in the past," José Mourinho tells UEFA as the newly rehired Benfica boss travels to face his former club Chelsea on Matchday 2 of the UEFA Champions League.
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José Mourinho made his name in European football when he followed up a 2002/03 UEFA Cup success at Porto with a UEFA Champions League triumph with the same club the following season. Since then he has lifted league titles with Chelsea, Inter and Real Madrid in addition to a second Champions League with the Nerazzurri, while the Portuguese tactician more recently won the UEFA Europa League with Manchester United and completed a clean sweep of the major UEFA club trophies by steering Roma to UEFA Conference League glory.
Now he is back at Benfica; the club where, for a few months in 2000, he took his first senior coaching role. The 62-year-old tells UEFA how he has changed (and stayed the same) in the intervening 25 years.
On returning to the Champions League with Benfica
These years where I didn't play in the Champions League weren't bad, because I played the finals of the Europa League and the Conference League. Obviously, the Champions League is the biggest competition, the competition with the most important clubs in Europe, and, for me, obviously it means a lot, because if winning one is a dream for everyone, winning two is even better.
I was lucky in my career to coach a lot of giants: Real Madrid, Inter, Manchester United, Chelsea. Benfica is a giant. And in that sense, a giant club entails giant responsibilities, giant expectations – it's all giant. But it’s the kind of challenge I need.
On facing Chelsea on Matchday 2
When I left Porto, my first European match coaching Chelsea was against Porto; while coaching Inter, I played a zillion times against Barcelona [where I had been assistant coach]. As the coach of Fenerbahçe, I played against Manchester United, I played against Benfica.
[Stamford Bridge is] a stadium where I won three Premier Leagues; I made history with Chelsea. Chelsea belongs to my history, I belong to Chelsea history. But that's football. They want to win, I want to win. I will realise where I am before the match, I will realise where I am after the match; during the match, I think I have the capacity to forget and just to compete.
On staying hungry
If one day I feel less joy, when I wake up, early in the morning, to come to work; if one day I feel less joy for winning a game; if one day I feel less sadness for losing a game; if something changes, then that will be like a red light that's turned on.
I recall a Champions League game, Manchester United versus Real Madrid, where I was at Real Madrid and Sir Alex [Ferguson] was at Manchester United. I was at his office before the game and asked him: "Sir Alex, does this ever change – in terms of the tension and the adrenaline that we feel before such an important game?" He said: "No, it never changes. It's the same until the end." More than ten years have passed [since then], and my feelings don't change.
On his development as a coach
I'm better today than I was before. I think a coach is better after going through many experiences. The main difference I recognise in myself is the fact that maybe in the beginning I was more self-centred, and I changed in a way that, I don’t know… I feel like I'm more altruistic. I feel like I'm in football to help others rather than to help myself. I'm here to help my players more than to think about what's going to happen in my life. I think more about the club, I think more about the fans' joy, more than about me.
On his reputation
I never thought of myself as a genius. As a provocateur, maybe a little, but never as the devil. As a genius? Never. Of course, I've always felt like I had natural abilities that I developed to be a good manager, just as many great players do.
There are matches in my career that I felt I won; that it was because of me, because there are moments, decisions and strategies before or during the match that change everything. It makes you feel like "I won [us the game]". But I never saw myself as a genius. I always felt like part of the team, and that the players are more important than me, that I was there to help them.
On his trophy room
I have a room in my house where I keep some replicas, some medals and some jerseys, and it's a museum – and, as I always say, a museum is history, it's untouchable history, but it's not a part of my daily life, it's not part of my present, it's not part of my future. What I am today is what I am today, and not what I did in the past. I'm judged on what I do today.
I don't have much time to reflect and I don't want to. I don't have the time nor is it part of my mindset. I always say that they can steal everything from me, but the story I created, no one can take away from me. However, when you're working, when you have your ambitions, what was done before doesn't count.