Jose Mourinho vs. Chelsea: How has former Blues boss fared in seven previous visits to Stamford Bridge ahead of Benfica Champions League trip?

Jose Mourinho is back at Stamford Bridge this week as he takes his Benfica side to square off against Chelsea on matchday two of the League Phase of the Champions League.

With the Portuguese giants and the world champions having both lost their opening games, Mourinho and opposite number Enzo Maresca will be focused on trying to deliver a potentially-pivotal result in their efforts to qualify for the knockout stages.

However, Mourinho will inevitably find himself in the spotlight in West London as he returns to a club where he lifted three Premier League titles and eight pieces of silverware across two separate stints.

Despite his allegiances to Chelsea, taking a seat in the away dugout has been a semi-regular occurrence over the years, the now 62-year-old having been back on the Stamford Bridge touchline on seven occasions since his first exit in September 2007.

Here, Sports Mole takes a look at how Mourinho has fared with three different clubs over the years, starting with arguably his most notable return in 2010.

Inter Milan (Champions League last-16 tie in 2010)

With six seasons under Roman Abramovich having produced four semi-final defeats and an agonising penalty-shootout loss to Manchester United in the 2007-08 final, there was increasing desperation among the Chelsea fanbase to win the Champions League under Carlo Ancelotti in 2009-10.

Cruising through the group phase made Chelsea one of the favourites to lift the trophy, at least until they were drawn against Mourinho's Inter Milan - who had finished two points behind defending champions Barcelona in their group - in the last 16.

Inter deservedly won the first leg by a 2-1 scoreline, providing Mourinho with the perfect platform for his maiden return to Stamford Bridge as the villain, albeit one who entered the stage to a rapturous ovation from Chelsea's adoring supporters.

However, that adulation was quickly forgotten as Mourinho orchestrated a masterplan to nullify Chelsea's stars and hit them on the counter with 11 minutes remaining, Samuel Eto'o breaking the home team's hearts to leave their Champions League dream at exactly that for at least another 12 months.

Fewer than three months later, Mourinho was a Champions League winner for a second time, rubbing salt into the wounds of Chelsea supporters even though they had a Premier League and FA Cup double to celebrate that season.

Manchester United (2016-2018)

Mourinho was sacked as Chelsea boss for a second time in December 2015, a consequence of nine defeats in 16 Premier League matches, and it cast doubt as to whether he would ever return to English football.

Six months later, he was Manchester United manager, eyes quickly turning to matchday nine when the 2016-17 schedule was released as Chelsea fans anticipated the unthinkable of welcoming Mourinho back while in charge of one of their fiercest rivals.

There was an air of pantomime villain about this reunion, the home support far less welcoming than they were for chapter one, but Pedro's first-minute goal set the tone for a dominant 4-0 Chelsea win on an afternoon which concluded with Mourinho accusing Antonio Conte of 'disrespect' for whipping the Stamford Bridge crowd into a frenzy during the closing stages.

Five months later, Mourinho was back for a quarter-final tie in the FA Cup, again suffering defeat as Chelsea took advantage of a first-half red card for Ander Herrera to prevail 1-0 courtesy of N'Golo Kante's second-half goal.

In 2017-18, Mourinho made a third successive return to Stamford Bridge without his United side getting on the scoresheet, Alvaro Morata's 55th-minute header proving to be the difference in a game which started with United sitting four points clear of Chelsea in the Premier League table.

The following campaign, United ended a run of over seven halves of football without a Stamford Bridge goal under Mourinho as an Anthony Martial double put them on the brink of upsetting Chelsea, only for Ross Barkley's 96th-minute equaliser leaving United down in 10th place and Mourinho on the way to the sack two months later.

Tottenham Hotspur (2020)

If Chelsea fans were annoyed with Mourinho becoming Man United manager, their anger intensified when he became Tottenham Hotspur boss in November 2019.

The appointment led to a first managerial duel between Mourinho and Frank Lampard a month later in North London - Lampard's team prevailing 2-0 on that occasion - and one of Mourinho's greatest-ever aides had the double over him in February 2020 when he made his next return to Stamford Bridge.

Goals from Olivier Giroud and Marcos Alonso by the 48-minute mark meant that Mourinho had a miserable afternoon, his mood only improving through Antonio Rudiger's late own goal which was ultimately scant consolation.

That proved to be Mourinho's last game at Stamford Bridge in front of a crowd, his most recent visit occurring in November 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic had forced football behind closed doors.

Spurs were top of the Premier League at the time, with Chelsea in third, and each team were likely satisfied with the goalless draw that transpired.