Chelsea Vs Benfica: Mourinho's Return To Stamford Bridge Will Be Bad?

JAKARTA - A special night will be presented at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, October 1, 2025, early morning WIB, when Benfica coach, Jose Mourinho, enjoyed his return to Chelsea in the 2025/2026 Champions League phase.

The 62-year-old will lead his first Champions League game for the Eagles at his former headquarters.

The hosts and the visitors are both ambitious to win their first Champions League win on the second occasion.

Despite winning every UEFA award that can be achieved - an achievement that other clubs in Europe cannot boast of - Chelsea's efforts to become king of the European continent for the third time began with the wrong move against their arch-enemy in the 2012 Champions League final, Bayern Munich.

Instead of being able to repeat the victory in Munich 13 years ago, Bayern Munich even won 3-1 in the first week. Cole Palmer's brilliant finish was in vain thanks to Harry Kane's two goals and Trevoh Chalobah's own goal.

Chalobah's accidental poor performance continued in the Premier League last weekend, where his red card early in the second half sparked a resounding revival of Brighton & Hove Albion. Enzo Maresca's men also lost 1-3 to the Seagulls led by Danny Welbeck.

After losing three of the last four games, winning only one of the last five games - against bottom division side Lincoln City in the Carabao Cup - and already grappling with a absence crisis, the 2025 Club World Cup winner is arguably currently on a revival mission to break a negative record.

Three consecutive defeats in the Champions League -- their longest record in this tournament -- is also not a good picture for Chelsea.

However, loyal supporters of the Blues can breathe a sigh of relief as their team has not lost at home in their Champions League group stage matches since 2019.

The same goes for the next opponent, Benfica. Their last game under head coach Bruno Lage ended in a shock home defeat 2-3 to Qarabag in this season's Champions League opener, where the Eagles squandered a 2-0 lead.

Now with the new manager, Mourinho, Benfica is ready to kick off after returning to Estadio da Luz. A quarter of a century ago, the Portuguese coach led the Eagles in just 10 games in 2000.

Benfica's decision to bring back the Champions League champion twice has paid off.

The former Chelsea head coach has won two wins and one draw from his first three matches in Primeira Liga, including a 2-1 comeback win over Gil Vicente on Saturday, September 27, 2025.

However, history has shown that the Special One's return would not be fun. Benfica failed to win even one of their last seven matches against England teams in the UEFA tournament.

They have also always lost their previous three competitive matches with Chelsea, including the 2012/2013 Europa League final.

That's the record that makes the Blues superior to Benfica. Another good news, Chalobah's red card on weekends doesn't affect its availability in the Champions League.

Facundo Buonanotte is also available again after being unable to face his old club on Saturday, September 27, 2025.

However, Chelsea still lost Cole Palmer (single injury), Levi Colwill (lutut), Liam Delap (paha), Dario Essugo (paha), Tosin Adarbioyo (betis), and Wesley Fofana (head), while Mykhaylo Mudryk's doping suspension is still not over.

Even worse, Maresca revealed in a pre-match press conference that Joao Pedro, Moises Caicedo, and Andrey Santos all needed to be re-examined for injury. Then, Caicedo's absence could force Tyrique George to fill the position of center forward.

Mourinho's Benfica is also not in top condition. Manu Silva and Alexander Bah are still recovering from ACL injuries, while Bruma wingers are likely absent until 2026 due to acadelles injuries.

The Eagles attack line is further eroded by the absence of 19-year-old Gianluca Prestianni, who currently represents Argentina at the U-20 World Cup in Chile.

However, attack line star Vangelis Pavlidis has started as he is determined to continue the 2025-2026 season. The 26-year-old scored both goals in his team's win over Gil Vicente on weekends and has scored seven goals this season in all competitions.

Enzo Barrenechea missed Primeira Liga's win over a yellow card suspension, but the 24-year-old midfielder is now back in action.

Formation Forecast

Chelsea: Sanchez; Gusto, Chalobah, Badiashile, Cucurella; Fernandez, Lavia; Estevoo, Buonanotte, Garnacho; George

Benfica: Trubin; Dedic, Otamendi, A. Silva, Dahl; Barrenechea, Rios; Lukebagio, Sudakov, Schjelderup; Pavlidis