Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has taken another dig at Real Madrid boss Rafa Benitez – this time claiming Benitez’ Europa League win with the Blues in 2013 was not good for the club.
Benitez succeeded Roberto di Matteo at Stamford Bridge in November 2012 and guided Chelsea to Europe’s second tier trophy at the end of that campaign.
In a documentary for BT Sport, Mourinho said a club of Chelsea’s size should never have been playing at that level in the first place and the Europa League campaign had a negative effect on the club.
He seemingly forgot to mention his failure to even guide Real to the Champions League final let alone win it was not good for Los Blancos. And in another oversight, the Portuguese also forgot to mention Benitez has won more European trophies with Chelsea in less than one season than the Special One has in five seasons over his two stints in charge of the west London club despite having a bottomless pit of money to delve into when he so desires.
“When I returned, I felt the experience of Chelsea playing Europa League was not good. The Europa League is a different competition, the Europa League is a different level of competition for a different level of player and a different level of club,” he quipped.
He added: “It is not good for a big club to go there and win it. It is better for the evolution of the players and for the evolution of the team to be in the Champions League. Even if you are not successful, even if you do not win it, it is better to be in the Champions League.”
