Jose Mourinho refused to be drawn into a comparison with former Chelsea coach Roberto Di Matteo, whom Mourinho & Co., face in the UEFA Champions League (UCL) when the Blues travelto Gelsenkirchen to face Schalke on Tuesday. Mourinho, who won the UCL with FC Porto in 2004 and Inter Milan in 2010, has so far been unable to repeat the feat with Chelsea, while Di Matteo, a formerChelsea player, guided the Blues to the club’s one and only UCL success in 2012.
Mourinho’s men, currently first in UCL Group G, can seal progress to the Round of 16 with a winagainst Di Matteo’s Schalke. “Don’t ask me to speak about him,” Mourinho said when asked about the former Blues coach. “The history is the history — he was on the Chelsea bench when Chelsea wonthe Champions League and he is a historic name in this club. I have nothing more to say.”
He added: “My name is in the history of this club. A football club is made of many, many names– not one or two names or one player or one manager. I did my history here and now I have the chance to make more history here and he was Chelsea manager and he did his history.”
Askedwhether the UCL title — the only major title that has eluded him as Chelsea coach — is his priority, the Portuguese replied: “I want to win the next match. I want to make the team come up and theChampions League — I say many, many times — is not a consequence of a great work. Sometimes it is not. You can win the Champions League in the worst season. You can finish fifth (in your domesticleague) and win the Champions League. Liverpool did and Chelsea, too.”