Jose Mourinho has revealed that he was seeking revenge against Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich when he took his Inter Milan side to face the Blues in the 2009/10 UEFA Champions League.
In his Netflix Documentary, Mourinho has admitted that he was looking to send a message to Abramovich during his first visit to Stamford Bridge after leaving Chelsea in 2007. He stated that the game was not against his former players, and enjoyed the pressure of delivering. He said:
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“Honestly, I was playing against Roman in that game. I was not playing against Chelsea. I was not playing against the boys. I was playing against him. That game for me was beauty. I was playing against a guy that sacked me. It felt like pleasure.” (via ESPN)
Diego Milito opened the scoring early in the game, before Salomon Kalou equalised in the second half. Inter Milan retook the lead soon after through Esteban Cambiasso and held on for a 2-1 win at Stamford Bridge. Mourinho said that he was delighted with the result as it would have got the Russian owner upset and added:
“I go home happy, and he goes upset, because I know how much he loves Chelsea, I know how much he loves to win. But I needed revenge. Because football belongs to people like me. The other ones are the intruders who don’t belong. Football belongs to the players, belongs to the coaches, belongs to the fans. Football will always belong to us.”
Inter Milan went on to win the second leg 1-0 on their way to the UEFA Champions League glory that season.
Jose Mourinho explains why Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich sacked him
Jose Mourinho revealed that Roman Abramovich wanted him to manage a game between his hotel and boat staff. The former Chelsea manager claimed that he was not interested as he was busy with the season and said:
“I think Roman changed. For example, one day Peter (Kenyon, chief executive) came to me quite embarrassed and he told me, ‘Jose, I have to tell you something’. ‘The boss is in Sardinia with his boat, and the people that work in his boat, they play football against guys from the hotel and they are losing. Can you go there and to win a game for him?’ And I told him, ‘no, Peter, I have training today, I have to prepare for tomorrow. I cannot go’. And he was not happy with that.”
Jose Mourinho returned to the club in 2013 after his stint at Real Madrid. He was at the club for another 2.5 years before getting sacked.
Edited by Sripad
