Mourinho: Shevchenko deal helped turn Chelsea return into revenge mission

Jose Mourinho has described his 2010 Champions League meeting with Chelsea as a personal battle against former owner Roman Abramovich, saying he wanted to leave Stamford Bridge happy while the Russian billionaire went home disappointed.

Mourinho, 63, revisited one of the most controversial periods of his managerial career in a new Netflix documentary charting his time in football. The Portuguese manager discussed his complicated relationship with Abramovich, who dismissed him from Chelsea twice, and revealed how disagreements over the club’s direction and transfer decisions contributed to the tension between them.

Mourinho is preparing for another chapter with Real Madrid after returning to the Spanish club for a second spell. However, the documentary looks back at the events that shaped his first two periods at Chelsea, including the signing of Ukraine striker Andriy Shevchenko.

Mourinho’s first dismissal at Chelsea came in September 2007, after he had guided the club to major success during the preceding years. He later returned for a second spell, but that relationship also ended prematurely when he was sacked again in December 2015.

The manager said Abramovich became increasingly involved in first-team affairs during his initial tenure, with Shevchenko’s arrival emerging as one of the central disputes between them.

Shevchenko joined Chelsea from AC Milan in May 2006 for about £30m, then a club-record fee. The move was accompanied by high expectations that the Ukraine forward would reproduce the form that had made him one of the leading strikers in Italian and European football.

His time in west London did not meet those expectations. Shevchenko scored only nine Premier League goals in 48 appearances during his three years with Chelsea.

Mourinho said Shevchenko had not been his preferred choice, although he accepted that he bore some responsibility because he had not publicly opposed the transfer.

“Abramovich had a huge passion for football, but he did not understand the reality of the situation,” Mourinho said in comments reported by BBC Sport.

“Shevchenko’s name came up because of the president’s relationships and the agents. I never wanted to sign him, but I did not reject it publicly, so it is also my responsibility.”

When asked which striker he would have preferred, Mourinho named Cameroon international Samuel Eto’o.

“Do you want to know the player I wanted to sign? It is Samuel Eto’o,” he said.

Eto’o would later become one of the most influential forwards to work under Mourinho. The pair reunited at Inter Milan, where they enjoyed a historic 2009-10 season, winning Serie A, the Coppa Italia and the Champions League to complete a treble.

That Champions League campaign gave Mourinho the opportunity to face Chelsea, with Inter Milan drawn against the London club in the last 16.

The first leg at San Siro ended in a 2-1 victory for Inter Milan, while the Italian side completed a 3-1 aggregate win at Stamford Bridge. The result sent Inter Milan into the quarter-finals and marked Mourinho’s return to the stadium only a few years after his dismissal.

Inter Milan went on to win the Champions League at the end of the season, completing one of the greatest campaigns in the club’s history.

Mourinho made clear that the tie represented more than a tactical contest between two leading European teams.

“I was playing against Roman in that match,” he said. “I was playing against the man who sacked me. I wanted to return home happy while he returned home sad, because I know how much he loved Chelsea and how much he loved winning.”

The Portuguese manager said the match provided an opportunity to answer the man who had decided to end his time at Stamford Bridge. He described the motivation behind the game in explicitly personal terms.

“I needed revenge, because football belongs to people like me. The others are outsiders who do not belong to this world,” Mourinho said.

He concluded by outlining his broader view of the game: “Football belongs to the players, the coaches and the fans, and it will always belong to us.”

Mourinho’s account presents his relationship with Abramovich as more than a disagreement between a manager and a club owner. It was, he suggested, a prolonged dispute over footballing vision, authority and control at Chelsea, with its effects continuing even after he had left Stamford Bridge.