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Chelsea get what they need, Jose Mourinho gives just about enough of what was expected.
The club’s greatest ever manager ended up offering most of the colour to an otherwise drab and predictable 1-0 win.
Enzo Maresca can sit a little more comfortably ahead of the visit of erratic Liverpool this weekend. Mourinho exits stage left, now needing his Benfica to properly dig into the bottom reaches of the Champions League opening stage.
That’s the thing about this modern version of the competition, too. Chelsea might have needed a win to quell some of the noise around Maresca but they didn’t truly need it in terms of getting through to the next round. There are too many safety nets for the super clubs, an awareness of which informs a lot of the strange half-games that take place around this stage of the season.
The incentive is still mostly convenience, and avoiding complications with the calendar. Maresca’s pumped fist at the end at least showed it meant a bit more to him.
He exchanged a huge hug with Mourinho at the end. The Portuguese of course offered a few moments of theatre, even if they eluded his team. He came out from the tunnel performatively late after the Champions League pageantry, although that only had the effect of ensuring he was denied an initial individual reception as the home crowd were already lost in their own songs. They admittedly rectified that within minutes, singing the old “Jose Mourinho” chant. The new Benfica manager was of course quick to give the humble wave of acknowledgment.
He was later on playing peace-maker, running well outside his technical area to implore the travelling Benfica fans not to throw things at former player Enzo Fernandez. You might call it the anti-Ange Postecoglou, given that the Australian had cupped an ear at his own fans on that very same patch of grass.
The away support of course listened to their new manager, who offered another little scene from his return trip to Chelsea.
All of this was classic Mourinho, if not classic Mourinho defensive. Garnacho was given yards of space at the back of the Benfica defence, from which Neto easily picked him out. When Richard Rios belatedly tried to close him down, he only succeeded in diverting the ball into his own goal.
Mourinho had already spoken before the game about how it’s early days with this team, which could at least explain such space. It’s something he’s going to have to drill.
Garnacho couldn’t claim the goal but he could enjoy what felt like a first properly productive night for his new club, in what was just his second start. The Argentine constantly offered spark on the flank, and one velvet touch in the second half brought a murmur of appreciation from the crowd.
The bigger test will be how often Maresca actually trusts him in the biggest games.
One of many reasons for Chelsea’s recent dip is that they are going through a bit of an injury crisis, which saw Garnacho restored to the team. It also explains the flatter nature of this match, even if Maresca’s more passive football has been a source of supporter disgruntlement for some time.
This never really developed into that public popularity contest with Mourinho that had been anticipated. That was largely because this was never really a contest at all. The score may have been a mere 1-0 but these days there is far too much of a gap in terms of revenue.
The modern Benfica, as Mourinho spoke at length about before the game, just can’t hope to properly compete with a 21st-century English super-club. Not even Vangelis Pavlidis, recently the tormentor of England with Greece, offered much. The most Benfica had was a shot against the post from Dodi Lukebakio just minutes into the match, and then a bit of a flurry after half-time.
That was classic Mourinho, too. Test the opposition with early intensity, before withdrawing.
Like so much with this entire occasion, though, it was a bit of faded facsimile of the originals.
With this single win, Chelsea now don’t need to do much more to get through to the next round. That is almost a foregone conclusion.
They do need to do a lot more to actually suggest they can win this competition and become European champions, despite that badge proclaiming them as world champions on their shirt. This is the real level, even if it will take us a few months to actually see it.
