Tuesday night will see Jose Mourinho return to Porto when Chelsea travel to the Estádio do Dragão to lock horns with the Portuguese giants in their second fixture of the group stages.
Dragões is where The Special One’s coaching career took a meteoric rise after he guided the Primeira Liga side to two league titles and the glorious Champions League trophy.
However, most of the pre-game talk surrounds a run-in between the former Real Madrid manager and goalkeeper Iker Casillas, whom he enjoyed a rocky relationship with during their time at Santiago Bernabeu together.
Nonetheless, the Blues boss admitted that he would shake hands with the Spaniard but refused to entertain any more questions on the issue of the Blancos legend.
“I’ll shake Iker Casillas’s hand before and after the game, don’t ask me any more questions about that,” said Jose, in the pre-match press conference.
Mourinho, who spent two wonderful seasons at Porto, spoke highly of Tuesday’s opponents, and opened up about prospect of returning to the very ground where his rise to stardom all began.
“Porto are leaders here in Portugal and that’s normal, the quality of the squad doesn’t surprise me. In my opinion they can win everything in Portugal and get out of the group stages in the Champions League. They’re a difficult team, I’m not expecting an easy match.”
“It is special. I was here for two and a half years and we won everything. This club opened the door to the biggest clubs in the world for me. Away games are never easy in the Champions League, they’re always complicated, but Porto also know that they’re not playing a weak team.”
Chelsea lead group G with three points and a goal difference of four, yet the west London side’s manager refused to label his team as favorites to clinch the trophy, despite their perfect start.
“I don’t consider us favourites. For a few reasons, we’re favourites to get out of the group. Having played a lot of games in the Champions League makes you feel a little more comfortable, nothing more. The first time I won it I didn’t have any experience.”
