Former Chelsea manager José Mourinho will lead Portugal side Sport Lisboa e Benfica to Stamford Bridge on Tuesday September 30. Tonight’s fixture will be Chelsea’s 100th home appearance in the UEFA Champions League. The special one as Mourinho is fondly called by the Chelsea fans will return to Stamford Bridge with hopes of guiding his Portugal side Benfica to victory in Matchday 2 of the League phase of the Champions League.
Team News
Chelsea had an auspicious start to the 2025/26 season but have fallen short having endured an ill-fated run for a couple of weeks now. They are now the team with longest losing streak in the English Premier League losing two games in a row. Their only win across their last five games was against third-tier team, Lincoln City.
Currently, the blues have had a player sent-off in conservative Premier League losses. They also picked up a new club record of three consecutive defeats in the Champions League on Matchday one when they lost to Bayern Munich making them the team with the longest losing streak in the competition.
Mourinho has had a great start at Benfica winning two out of three with the third ending in a draw. The Eagles have been strong on the road in the UCL, winning five of the last seven away games.
Speaking in an interview on Chelsea’s chances of winning the UCL, the former Blues manager had this to say, ” I don’t see no reason why Chelsea can’t win the Champions League”
“There was a set period where even myself from the outside, I was putting some question marks because it looked as if Chelsea lost their identity, but what happened in the last season put things back on track. They gave trust to Enzo…”
“The Club World Cup, I say the Champions League is much more important but that badge means a lot. It’s the first time a club wins the Club World Cup, so congratulations to them. It gives them a base of trust and confidence.”
Head-to-Head
Chelsea has won all four of their previous meetings all of which has been in the knockout stage of the UCL. Earlier this summer, Benfica also lost by 4-1 in the last 16 of the Club World Cup which the Blues went on to lift the trophy. The Eagles now have a eight matches winless run against English sides losing five with three ending in draws.
Stats and Missing Players
Chelsea has failed to score in only one of their last 18 games. Their last three UCL defeats have been by a two-goal margin.
Benfica’s last nine matches have seen a total of five reds cards while new manager José Mourinho is winless in his last seven encounters against his former club Chelsea with three ending in draws and four in loses.
Chelsea defenders, Tosin Adarabioyo and Wesley Fofana will miss out on this fixture alongside Cole Palmer. Meanwhile, Benfica will be without no missing players going into this one.
