Jose Mourinho has played down the significance of his return to Stamford Bridge with Manchester United on Sunday.
The spotlight will inevitably be on United’s former Chelsea boss when his team face the Blues, who thrashed them 4-0 in the league and knocked them out of the FA Cup at the Bridge last season.
But Mourinho, who masterminded three Premier League title triumphs during his two spells as Chelsea manager, does not appear to be feeling at all sentimental ahead of this weekend’s match.
“It isn’t a big thing. It’s normal. It’s football. It’s professionalism. It’s football life. One day you are in one club and the next day you are in another club,” he said.
“It’s a big thing because it’s a big match, because it’s a big opponent and it’s one of these matches between the top teams in the country. But, from an emotional point of view, it’s just one more game.
“I played there with Inter Milan and twice with Manchester United. It’s, I have to admit, a little bit different, but in the end I want to win like I did with Inter and they want to win like they did last season.
“It’s just one more game and in a couple of years it will be even more natural and in four or five years probably no-one will remember that I was Chelsea manager.
“It’s a big match because they are the champions and we are Manchester United.”
Meanwhile, Chelsea youngsters Tammy Abraham and Ruben Loftus-Cheek have been included in the senior England squad for the first time.
This post was last modified on 02/11/2017