Jose Mourinho reflects on a tough return to Stamford Bridge: ‘Sooner or later I had to play against Chelsea’

Here we go – that is the message from Jose Mourinho ahead of his return to Stamford Bridge with Manchester United on Sunday.

The former Chelsea boss returns to his old stomping ground for the first time since he was sacked last December on what promises to be an emotional afternoon in west London.

And when quizzed about his return United manager was typically forthright.

‘I knew that, working in England and staying in the Premier League, sooner or later I had to play against Chelsea and go to Stamford Bridge,’ he said. ‘The computer has decided it is to go now. And here we go.’

Mourinho acknowledged that his old employers, under Antonio Conte, have had a decent start and represent a tough challenge in the 4pm kick-off.

‘I don’t have to analyse their start to the season,’ he added. ‘But you look to the table and you see where they are. They are in a good position. So the start of the season cannot be bad if they are where they are.’

The last time Mourinho returned to Chelsea as an opponent, with Inter Milan, he joked that he was ‘always lucky at the bridge’.

However, he no longer feels that is the case after last year’s tribulations saw him depart with the club hovering outside the relegation zone.

‘When I played there with Inter, before that, I never lost a match at Stamford Bridge because I had that home record,’ he explained.

‘Now I have lost a few matches at the Bridge. Last season I lost two or three matches at the Bridge, so I cannot use the same words because now I have lost there.’