Benitez expects Mourinho return

Rafael Benitez hopes to guide Chelsea to a
Champions League return before handing over
to his successor – and the Spaniard has
suggested the new boss will be Jose Mourinho.
Speaking ahead of tonight’s Barclays Premier
League clash with Tottenham, where victory
would virtually seal Champions League football
next season for the 2012 winners, Benitez
indicated he expects Mourinho to return to
Stamford Bridge.
Real Madrid coach Mourinho, who left after
three years as Blues boss in September 2007,
has been strongly linked with a return, with a
date of July 1 mooted.
“The next year there will be another manager,”
said Benitez, who replaced Roberto Di Matteo
in November and will depart this summer at
the end of his short-term contract.
“I think everybody knows who will be here.”
Benitez was asked if he would volunteer help
to the new manager.
He said: “Good question. You think that he will
ask me?
“That’s something you have to ask the new
manager.”
Chelsea skipper John Terry dropped similar
hints.
He told the Sun: “It is important for both of us
to show respect to Real Madrid because he has
a contract there.
“For me, personally, it is difficult to go into
this subject.
“But the fans have shown clearly that he is a
man they love, above all for what he won, and
for pushing the club in a direction it had never
gone in before.
“He is still the ’Special One’.”
Due to his prior association with Liverpool,
where he regularly crossed swords with
Mourinho both domestically and in Europe,
Benitez was an unpopular appointment among
Blues fans, the majority of whom adore the
Portuguese.
Benitez has quietly moved within sight of his
targets since the vitriol towards him quietened
down in the wake of his plea to supporters
following the FA Cup win at Middlesbrough in
February.
Chelsea are in next week’s Europa League final
with Benfica and victory in the London derby
with Tottenham would lift Benitez’s third-
placed team six points clear of Spurs with two
games to play and a far superior goal
difference.
In the opposite dugout at Stamford Bridge will
be another former Chelsea manager –
Tottenham’s Andre Villas-Boas.
Asked to appraise the Spurs boss, who
suggested he was undermined by senior players
while at Chelsea, Benitez insisted he has no
such problems at Stamford Bridge.
“I think he’s a good manager. He’s working
hard for his new team,” Benitez said, before
commenting on his squad.
“What I find every day is a very good group of
players, keen to learn.
“You could see a lot of improvement this year.
It’s a good group of professionals.”
Benitez praised Gareth Bale but insisted
Chelsea had no special plans for the PFA Player
of the Year and said Spurs should be wary of
the likes of Juan Mata and Eden Hazard, who is
available after missing the Manchester United
win with a calf injury.
The Old Trafford triumph saw the Blues move
within sight of second-placed Manchester City
and Benitez, who is keen to wrap up
Champions League qualification prior to next
week’s trip to Amsterdam, is looking upwards,
rather than behind to Arsenal and Spurs.
“If you have the qualification done, then you
can concentrate a little bit more (on the
final),” Benitez said.
“Still we want to finish in the top three or even
more – it depends on the other results.
“We will try to win every (game), but if you
have guaranteed a position it’s always easier.”