Stamford

It is the Mourinho who spent an age talking to another long-term Chelsea employee Thresa Conneely on Monday, the one who chatted to his former player Joe Cole after arriving 90 minutes before kick-off, relaxed with his arm draped on the one-time England star’s shoulder as he engaged in easy conversation. The one who stopped and signed a young Chelsea fan’s shirt before he headed to the dressing room for his pre-match team talk.

“Of course I thank them,” said Mourinho, when asked of the supporter reaction.

“I did it on the pitch. I live around here. I talk with them every day on the street.

“I hope to come back here [Stamford Bridge] in 20 years with my grandkids.

“They [Chelsea] belong to my history and I belong to theirs.”

Yet Mourinho wants to win. You could tell that as he challenged decisions and demanded more from his players, patrolling the touchline as he has always done.

It seemed odd to hear him talk about how well his team had played in defeat, even if the odds were stacked against them by the huge gap in income between England’s Champions League contenders and those from Portugal.

He sat in the same dugout as when he was manager, though it does make you wonder why the club waited for Mauricio Pochettino to change them given what is now the home dugout straddles the halfway line.

It did mean he was nearer the Benfica fans though, as he produced another classic Mourinho moment in the second half.

Chelsea might have paid the Lisbon club a British record £107m to sign Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez two years ago, but the money clearly has no bearing on how his old club’s supporters think about him.

As he went to take a corner, Fernandez was bombarded by missiles from the upper and lower sections of the stands around him.

Mourinho saw what was happening, bounced out of his seat and took off down the touchline – a reminder of when he was Porto manager at Old Trafford and celebrated knocking Manchester United out of the Champions League in 2004.

The knee slide is beyond him now. Instead, he kept himself to angry waves, telling those supporters to stop.

They might not all have acted as he wished but the bombardment at least reduced long enough for Fernandez to take the corner.

Jose the peacemaker. Jose the friend.

Benfica didn’t win – and Chelsea weren’t that good – but Mourinho’s return was memorable all the same.

There will always be mutual respect around here.

CHELSEA hardly needed to play like world-beaters to see off lacklustre Leverkusen.

But there was plenty for the Blues to feel positive about from their first game as world champions.

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Estevao’s goal and all-round first-half performance on his debut was the undoubted highlight, before Club World Cup hero Joao Pedro made it two late on.

And although boss Enzo Maresca regularly showed frustration with his team, this was a decent showing from a group of players with less than a week of training under their belt.

Maresca gave 10 outfield substitutes a run out without losing control of a game that at times had a bit more needle than he would have liked.

The way Cole Palmer linked up with Estevao will have pleased the Chelsea head coach.

The challenge which former Liverpool defender Jarell Quansah put in on Palmer will have had him wincing.

Especially after losing defender Levi Colwill to ACL surgery after a knock picked up in the very first training session since the CWC victory.

Palmer was incensed, and his team-mates backed him up in a brief outbreak of handbags.

Yet it was Chelsea who looked the fresher team.

Former Bundesliga champions Leverkusen had been working together for a full pre-season under new boss Erik ten Hag.

But they felt like one of Ten Hag’s old Manchester United teams: flat and toothless up front, having lost playmaker Florian Wirtz and wing-back Jeremie Frimpong to Liverpool.

Blues goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen made only a couple of routine saves and the visitors were unable to capitalise on the odd defensive error.

Otherwise it was all Chelsea.

Marc Cucurella and Estevao had shots blocked before the Brazilian started and finished the key move of the match.

After retrieving the ball near the halfway line, the right winger Cucurella, whose pass inside fell for Palmer.

The No 10s lob came back off the bar but Estevao volleyed it home.

Chelsea’s new No 9, Liam Delap, had two decent sights of goal but was denied each time by former Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken.

Delap might have done better, particularly with the first opportunity from Cucurella’s cross.

Estevao saw a shot blocked by Piero Hincapie’s head just before the break.

Palmer went off at half time, presumably as a precaution rather than because of any lasting damage from Quansah’s foul.

Estevao took his place in the No 10 position, leaving Pedro Neto to “follow that” on the right wing.

The young Brazilian had been less impressive in the second half yet had a chance to make the night even more special.

But he pulled a good chance wide before being replaced with 15 minutes to go to a loud ovation from the crowd.

Neto forced a decent save from Flekken and Chelsea were on the verge of settling for a scoreline that did not reflect their superiority.

But Joao Pedro put some extra shine on a night lit up by his fellow Brazilian Estevao with a last-gasp second.

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Glenavon’s 16-year-old forward Chris Atherton has left Mourneview Park to join Chelsea.

The Northern Ireland Under-17 international made headlines in September 2022 when he became the youngest senior footballer in the United Kingdom at 13 years and 329 days old.

The teenager, who joined the Glenavon academy at four years old, broke the senior record when he came on as a second-half substitute for the Lurgan Blues during a 6-0 win over Dollingstown in the BetMcLean Cup.

Atherton beat the record set by Jordan Allan, who played for Airdrie aged 14 years and 191 days.

He was a first-team regular for Glenavon throughout the 2024-25 season, scoring his first Irish Premiership goal against Loughgall in March, as Paddy McLaughlin’s side finished 10th in the table.

Glenavon announced his exit on X, with a post stating: “Chris Atherton – blue still the colour.

“We can confirm that academy product Chris Atherton has left the club to sign for Chelsea We wish him the best in his career & hope he and his family won’t be strangers at MVP.”

Liam Delap was one of this summer’s most-wanted strikers.

The 22-year-old scored 12 goals in 37 Premier League games for Ipswich, with his tantalising £30m release clause attracting numerous suitors after the club was relegated back to the Championship.

He was given permission to speak to clubs in May, with Manchester United, Everton, Newcastle and Nottingham Forest all showing serious interest while Manchester City also held a buy-back option on their former player.

But it was Chelsea who won the race for his signature and, speaking before the Blues’ final Club World Cup group game against Es Tunis on Wednesday, Delap has revealed why – including the pull of Europe and rejoining some familiar faces.

“You never know if it is going to be the right decision but you’ve just got to go with your gut and hope it works out,” he said. “You’ve got to take your time. I took a few days to speak to people and decide my future.”

One of those people he consulted was Chelsea’s star attacker Cole Palmer, who he first played with at Manchester City at the age of 15.

Delap added: “I asked him what I needed to ask him, he told me what I needed to know. But I don’t like too much information. Ultimately it was my decision so I kind of just want my head to be clear.”

Palmer has become the poster boy for Chelsea after two sensational seasons and Delap was asked if he hopes to emulate his former academy team-mate.

“Yeah, of course, that’s the goal,” he said. “I think we both had similar positions and he’s gone and smashed it so hopefully I can also.”

Reports in May suggested Manchester United were front runners to sign Delap but their Europa League final defeat by Tottenham, and a poor league campaign, left them without European football next season – with Chelsea’s Champions League qualification playing a part in Delap’s decision.

“It wasn’t the be all and end all because I was also looking towards future seasons but also it helps,” he said.

The son of former Stoke City and Derby County midfielder Rory Delap launched his career at Manchester City under now-Chelsea manager Maresca. He scored 20 goals and won the PL2 player of the season – as he fired the Italian’s Under-21s squad to the title in 2020/21.

“I’ve got a good relationship with the manager,” he said of Maresca. “I know how he plays. I’ve played in this system before. It’s very similar now but with little tweaks. I know a lot of the players here and the project of the club, how they see the future. That’s what excited me.”

Maresca has previously revealed it was Delap’s decision to take the club’s so-called “cursed” number nine shirt.

When asked whether he believes in the curse, which counts Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Romelu Lukaku, Gonzalo Higuain, Alvaro Morata, Radamel Falcao and Fernando Torres among its supposed victims, Delap replied: “No, I’m not that type of person.

“It’s something that people talk about but it doesn’t mean anything to me. It’s something that’s related to strikers so I chose it.”