Chelsea on Champions League alert against old friend Jose Mourinho

By Henry Winter Published: 6:09PM GMT twenty February 2010

Dream team: Jose Mourinho welcomes Florent Malouda to Chelsea Photo: GETTY IMAGES

However majority of an action he assumes prior to the revisit of Chelsea, Inter Milan"s manager will be influenced inside. For Mourinho, this tie is the special one.

In the rave to Wednesday"s reunion, Mourinho will hold justice at Appiano Gentile, Inter"s seemly retreat, and speak of his apply oneself for Chelsea, of his veteran proceed to this round-of-16 Champions League tie. Before the feverishness of this sporting battle, Mourinho will explain he has ice in his veins but this piece of of European football"s managerial kingship will regularly have blue blood.

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The memories of his conspicuous power on the King"s Road from Jun 2 2004 to September twenty 2007 will regularly be with Mourinho. More than any alternative club, even the Porto side whom he guided to astonishing excellence in the 2004 Champions League final, Chelsea got underneath Mourinho"s skin.

He desired it at Stamford Bridge, revelled in the devotion of the Shed and Matthew Harding Stand. Chelsea fans will presumably salute him. Mourinho enjoyed London, detached from when the dog patrol raided.

He found the media far some-more elegant of his written pyrotechnics than they would be in Italy. Sadly, and this will regularly be a peck on both characters" towering station in Chelsea history, Mourinho and Roman Abramovich fell out.

Residents of the Bridge sauce room such as Florent Malouda still confess to a dolour over Mourinho"s exit. "Yes, since he did a good pursuit so I didn"t understand,"" reflected the smart French attacker.

"I longed for to come [to Chelsea from Lyons in 2007] since Jose brought trophies here and I longed for to be piece of it. I had the clarity that Chelsea were clever and could kick anybody and were carrying good results. I was astounded there were problems.""

Chelsea have taken time to recover, wanting to move in Carlo Ancelotti to turn a force severe for the vital prizes again, a being freighting this tie with such significance. If Mourinho masterminds Ancelotti"s defeat, afterwards his jubilee at the Bridge on Mar sixteen will be erotically appealing to behold.

Will he show apply oneself to Chelsea, to an old flame, throwing his dream-coat in to the throng or will he only dance down the touchline, fluttering dismissively to Abramovich?

However he responds, and Mourinho is the aristocrat of unpredictability, the emotions will be flowing. His depart hurt. On presumption carry out of Inter on Jul 1 2008, Mourinho spoken that he would "always, always, regularly await Chelsea but if Chelsea encounter Inter in the Champions League afterwards I won"t know any of them"". Mourinho meant that old friends would be strangers in the night.

Really? As Mourinho stands by the technical area of the San Siro, examination his former players comfortable up prior to kick-off, will he unequivocally not welcome Frank Lampard as he runs past? In the parlance of complicated psychologists, "they common a tour together"", and will go to the grave remembering the stroke they had on each others" lives.

Lampard grown in to an achieved all-round midfield bent underneath Mourinho, gaining in certainty and the believe of when to time runs to retaliate opponents.

Lampard ran his heart out for Mourinho, assisting expostulate Chelsea to titles in 2005 and 2006, the 2007 FA Cup, League Cups in 2005 and 2007 and what Uefa bureaucrats report as the "English Super Cup"", some-more ordinarily well known as the Community Shield, in 2005.

So, how can Mourinho explain he "won"t know"" Lampard? He even deliberate shopping him for Inter. How can he not know Didier Drogba? The Portuguese Pied Piper longed for Drogba to follow him to Italy. The Ivory Coast striker was shining underneath Mourinho, relishing the tactical horizon combined to make use of his strengths majority fully.

Will Mourinho not know Ricardo Carvalho? This is his compatriot, his former Porto centre-half and the Chelsea defender who majority plays the lightning burglar when opponents have possession. Carvalho was an additional devoted essence whom Mourinho hoped competence stick on his San Siro adventure.

Even Joe Cole, oft criticised by Mourinho for not tracking back, played the majority in effect football of his career underneath the Special One, rising to postulated England recognition. Look at Cole now, a shade of the noisy assailant he was underneath Mourinho.

Towards the end, John Terry had a little differences with Mourinho but knows the debt he owes this alchemist with the loosely-knotted tie. Chelsea were flapping underneath Claudio Ranieri. Then Mourinho swaggered in, heightening all from thoroughness to power of football, creation Terry twice the captain of a title-winning side.

Terry and Carvalho, Lampard, Drogba and Malouda will need to be on their eagerness opposite Mourinho. Of the 3 assignments set English clubs in the initial impressive person theatre of the Champions League, Chelsea"s regularly looked the hardest. The majority appropriate group in Italy exaggerate a high dash in receive that could difficulty Ancelotti"s side.

Inter see far less of the round than majority teams in Europe, keeping receive for an normal twenty-eight mins per game, resisting with Barcelona (50), Arsenal (36), United (35) and Chelsea (31).

But when they break, when Maicon triggers an conflict and Mario Balotelli or Samuel Eto"o take up the running, Inter are a fuzz of black-and-blue transformation hurtling towards goal. Chelsea should overcome over the dual legs, partly since they are fuelled by a clarity of misapplication following last season"s refereeing disturbance opposite Barcelona, but they will need all their leaders.

Mourinho competence not conclude the irony but the biggest threat to Inter are those he created in to men of iron. "There are leaders in the group who take shortcoming similar to Terry, Lamps, Didier,"" pronounced Malouda.

"When you came to the big games with the vigour on, they say: "OK. I"ll take the lead. Follow me"."" Chelsea right away plea the man they used to follow.

Mourinho will collect up the steel plating but demur. An eventful, romantic tie awaits.