The “Special One” Jose Mourinho Makes Chelsea Return

Jose Mourinho will make his long-awaited return to the Stamford Bridge dugout after Chelsea FC confirmed the charismatic Portuguese will be in charge of the club for the coming season.

Mourinho who gave a television interview to TV football show Punto Pelota after Real Madrid’s 4-2 win over Osasuna in his last match in charge of the Spanish club claimed he was set to rejoin the club he left in 2007 after he guided them to back to back Premier League titles.

The 50-year-old’s last season with Real Madrid has ended in massive disappointment and a personal low after he failed to secure any major silverware to his name besides the Supercopa de Espana (the equivalent of the English Community Shield).

Mourinho moved to Chelsea in June 2004 after leading Porto to the 2003-04 UEFA Champions League. Upon joining the Blues, the Setubal-born manager held his first press conference where he said, "Please don't call me arrogant, but I'm European champion and I think I'm a special one," and he has been referred to as the “Special One” ever since.

In his first season, he lived up to that tag after leading Chelsea to their first top-flight domestic title in 50 years, in a season that saw the club also achieve records including the most points ever achieved in the Premier League (95), and the fewest goals conceded (15). He helped the club defend the title in the 2005-06 season. During the 2006-07 campaign, Chelsea surrendered the title to Machester United but Mourinho still led the club to League Cup and FA Cup successes.

However, friction between the Portuguese and club owner Roman Abramovic saw Mourinho leave the club for Inter Milan where he won 5 title including two Serie A titles and the 2009-10 UEFA Champions League.

Mourinho made the switch to Spanish capital Madrid in 2010 and guided the team to the 2011-12 La Liga title but added just the Copa Del Rey and Spanish cup to his name before he left to join the Blues.

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Rafa Benitez Delivers as History-Making Chelsea FC Win Europa League

RIDICULED, abused, booed and generally mistreated by the club’s fans, Rafa Benitez will be a man on high demand when he leaves Chelsea after leading the London club to the Europa League title on Wednesday night at the Amsterdam Arena.

The Spaniard who has been called names by the Blues’ supporters ever since he took over from fans’ favorite Roberto Di Mateo on interim terms did his reputation a world of good after he saw the Roman Abramovich-owned club overcome sustained pressure to win their second European silverware in as many seasons.

The Stamford Bridge club were undoubtedly second best on the night but a Branislav Ivanovic header in injury time handed them a 2-1 win over a Benfica side that were wasteful on the final third and perhaps too complacent. The Portuguese giants controlled the early minutes of the game and could have gone ahead had Oscar Cardozo, Rodrigo Moreno or the much-sought after Nicolas Gaitan been more composed and clinical with their finishing.

Kenyan sports journalists and a few fans followed the action at K1 Klubhouse in Parklands courtesy of Europa League sponsors Western Union and they followed the proceedings patiently as they wined and dined a scoreless first half.

The game came into life on the hour mark when Fernando Torres completed a counter-attack and rounded the goalkeeper to give Chelsea the lead against the run of play. Cardozo however leveled from the spot just 8 minutes later after Cesar Azpilicueta blocked Lima’s ball with his hands.

Both goalkeepers were tested before Ivanovic’s winner, Petr Cech tipping Cardozo’s ferocious drive over the bar while Frank Lampard rattled the crossbar from even a further distance. Serbian player of the year, Ivanovic, however, had the last say after he leaped high and directed his header to the roof of the head, leaving Artur rooted to the spot.

And with that, Chelsea became the first British club to have won every UEFA competition, and the first club ever to hold both the Champions League and Europa League titles at the same time.

While all the club’s fans were ecstatic after the win, the much-criticized Benitez (who even had to see a “We want Mourinho” banner on the stands) was the biggest winner on the night as he added yet another European crown to his CV. This was his 10th trophy as a manager and has won a trophy in each of his last four clubs. He won two La Liga titles with Valencia and a UEFA Cup before moving to Liverpool where he added 4 titles to the Anfield trophy cabinet; 2005-06 FA Cup, 2006 Community Shield, 2004-05 Champions League and the 2005 UEFA Super Cup.

He also bagged two trophies when he replaced Jose Mourinho at Inter Milan; the 2010 Supercoppa Italiana and the Club Worldcup the same year.

As a neutral observer, methinks Chelsea could have done a lot worse than to ensure there’s continuity with the Benitez era but we all know there’s not a chance that that would happen. Jose Mourinho is the proverbial beloved prodigal Stamford Bridge son that the club’s fans want and it looks like they will get the self-proclaimed “Special One.”

One thing that is for sure though is that Benitez won’t be out of the dugout for long as top European clubs will come knocking on his doors. If there isn’t much on the speculations that Malaga coach Manuel Pellegrini will take over the reigns at Manchester City, the Eastlands club might consider having the Spaniard as an option. A more controversial move could see Rafa move to managerless Everton but the 53-year-old’s close connection with Merseyside rivals Liverpool could see him express some restraint.

Wherever he lands, Chelsea fans will hope the man most of them call "Spanish Waiter" doesn’t gather as much success as the man who will replace him at the London club come end of the season.

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Barca Survive Spartak Scare as Juventus Rally Back to Draw with Chelsea

Chelsea midfielder Oscar scores against Juventus

Lionel Messi came to the rescue of his Barcelona team for the umpteenth time Wednesday night when he scored a brace inside 8 minutes to help the Blaugarana avoid an embarrassing defeat against Spartak Moscow at Camp Nou.

The mercurial Argentine netted in the 72^nd minute to draw Barca level before tapping in the winner in the 80^th minute to squeeze three points out of the match

The Catalans looked well on course for a win inside the quarter-hour mark when Tello carved in an effort from outside the area to give them the lead. Barca controlled the match but were hit at the half-hour when Dani Alves led the ball into his own net to draw level for the Russians.

Barca threw everything for the remainder of the half with both Cesc Fabregas and Dani Alves coming close but the half ended in a 1-1 stalemate.

Spartak took the lead in the 59^th minute after a well-worked counter attack that started with Ari charging down the left channel before releasing the ball to Aiden McGeady who slid it to Romulo who beat his marker Adriano before slotting past Victor Valdes.

Tito Vilanova’s men huffed and puffed as they looked for the equalizer. The success would come in the 72^nd minute with Lionel Messi tapping in from close range after brilliant work from Tello on the left.

The winner came 10 minutes before the final whistle via Messi who headed home from an Alexis Sanchez cross to give the home crowd a win to cheer for but they know they might not be so lucky next time. In the other match in the Group, Celtic drew 0-0 with Benfica.

In Group E, Juventus rallied from 2 goals down to draw 2-2 with defending champions Chelsea. Brazilian star Oscar scored two superb in two minutes to give the Blues a 2-0 lead but Arturo Vidal’s 38^th minute strike opened the game heading into the interval.

Chelsea’s relaxed attitude in the second half proved costly especially in the 80^th minute when John Obi Mikel gave the ball away with substitute Fabio Quagliarella beating off an offside trap to slot between Cech’s legs for the equalizer.

Shakhtar Donetsk beat Danish Champions League debutants FC Nordsjælland 2-0 to claim the top spot in the group. Henrik Mkhitaryan scored both goals either side of half time to give the Ukrainian champions the win.

Bastian Schweinsteiger and Toni Kroos were both on target for last season’s losing finalists Bayern Munich in their 2-1 win over Valencia. Haedo Valdez scored the consolation for the Spaniards in injury time.  BATE Borisov shocked everyone but themselves when they trounced French Ligue 1 champions Lille 3-1 at the Grand Stade Lille Métropole. Aleksandr Volodko, Vitali Rodionov and Edgar Olekhnovich gave BATE an unlikely 3-0 half-time lead and they hanged on in the second half for the win. Chedjou scored the consolation for Lille.

Finally in Group H, Michael Carrick scored the only goal for Manchester United as they beat Galatasary 1-0 at Old Trafford. CFR Cluj won 2-0 away to Sporting Braga to move to the top of the group. Rafael Bastos scored both goals.

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