Overview
Jose Mourinho will make a comeback at Chelsea when Benfica travel to Stamford Bridge in the second round of the Champions League group stage.
The Portuguese has won three Premier League titles in his two spells as Blues manager, as well as three Carabao and FA Cup in 2007.
Mourinho started his coaching career with Benfica and just returned to the hot seat at Estadio da Luz earlier this month. Bruno Lage was sacked after a surprise defeat to Qarabag in the opening round of the Champions League.
At the age of 62, Mourinho has faced his former team 14 times in all competitions but has only won 4 (3 draws, lost 7). In fact, he has not won in the last 7 encounters, and the most recent victory against Chelsea was more than 7 years ago. At that time, his Manchester United beat The Blues 2-1 in the Premier League in February 2018.
Mourinho celebrated his victory on his first return to Stamford Bridge with Inter Milan in March 2010. However, since then, he has not won in all 6 away matches here (2 draws, 4 losses).
Recent statistics show that Portuguese clubs are having difficulty facing the English representative, with a streak of 8 matches without a win (3 draws, 5 losses). The last time they beat an English side was a decade ago, when they beat Tottenham 3-1 in the Europa League. Notably, the Portuguese teams have not kept a clean sheet in the last 18 encounters with English teams.
The shocking 2-3 home loss to Qarabag in the first match caused Benfica to lose the 2-goal lead. In 2025 alone, there were four cases where a team led by 2 goals but still lost in the Champions League, in which Benfica participated twice, including a 4-5 defeat to Barcelona in January.
On the opposite side, coach Enzo Maresca is waiting for a boost in the Champions League. Chelsea have won just one of their last five games in all competitions. And even in that match, they had to come back to beat the League One representative 2-1.
Chelsea's 1-3 home defeat to Brighton last weekend extended their 3-match winless streak in the Premier League (1 draw, 2 losses). In the Champions League, they also opened with a 1-3 defeat to Bayern Munich.
The loss to Bayern means Chelsea have the longest losing streak in their history in the Champions League (3 matches). However, in the group stage, they have maintained an unbeaten record at home since September 2019 (losing 0-1 to Valencia), with 7 wins and 4 draws since then.
This will be the first time Chelsea and Benfica have met in the Champions League group stage. Previously, the 4 confrontations all took place in the knockout round, most recently at the FIFA Club World Cup 3 months ago, where Chelsea won 4-1 after extra time.
The home side will be without key star Cole Palmer - who scored the only goal against Bayern - along with Liam Delap, Levi Colwill and Tosin Adarabioyo due to injury.
On the other side, Benfica still does not have the service of winger Bruma due to an Achilles tendon injury.
Head-to-head record
Chelsea are struggling at the moment, but they still have reason to be confident thanks to their impressive head-to-head record against Benfica.
The Blues have won all 4 official matches against the Portuguese representative. Including a 4-1 victory after extra time in the round of 16 of the FIFA Club World Cup.
Overall, Chelsea dominated with a score of 9-3 after four encounters.
Score prediction: Benfica 1-1 Chelsea
The match between Chelsea and Benfica takes place at 1:00 am on October 1 (Vietnam time).
