‘I don’t lose at the Bridge’

All eyes will be on the charismatic Portuguese as he takes his place in the visitors dug-out — just metres away from the seat where he orchestrated the greatest chapter in Chelsea’s history. “The good thing is that I don’t have far to walk,” he said. “From the dressing room to the bench is five metres. I don’t have to cross the stadium,I don’t have to feel the emotions from the crowd. I will just sit there and play my game.”

Grand reception

Mourinho is assured a great reception by the fans who will be forever grateful for the two Premier League titles,two League Cups and one FA Cup he won in three seasons before his sudden departure in 2007. But the sentimentality will end once the whistle blows. Mourinho knows how desperate Chelsea are to land Europe’s biggest club prize,having twice reached the semi-finals under him and losing to Manchester United on penalties in the final led by his successor Avram Grant.

Like most of the 40,000 fans wedged into Stamford Bridge on Tuesday,Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti will know that Inter pose a serious threat despite stuttering domestic form simply because of who is in charge of picking the team.

Many of the Chelsea squad,including Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba,still hold Mourinho in high regard and Ancelotti knows he might be left in the shade a little before the whistle blows. “Mourinho deserves a good reception because he did a fantastic job,” said Ancelotti. “Together with Roman he put a team into the best position in the world. I just hope that in the future,in a very long time,when I come back to Chelsea,I’ll have this same reception.”

Hard work ahead

A Champions League triumph would guarantee that but there is much hard work ahead,starting with overturning Inter’s lead. “I don’t think we have to score early,” Ancelotti said. “We need to play well,in a game with balance,because then we can still score in the last minute of the game. We want to start the game well and play well but we don’t need a goal straight away.”

Inter striker Samuel Eto’o has been in patchy form since his July swap deal with Barcelona’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic but is still likely to start alongside Diego Milito. Chelsea’s biggest worry is in the goalkeeping department with Petr Cech and Hilario both injured,although Ross Turnbull impressed on his league debut on Saturday when Drogba warmed up with two goals in a 4-1 defeat of West Ham United. Inter’s preparations were less impressive,losing 3-1 to Catania on Friday.

In Tuesday night’s other match,Sevilla host Russian club CSKA Moscow,and the Spanish side only need to prevent their opponents from scoring to progress. Sevilla drew 1-1 in Russia in the first leg with a goal by Alvaro Negredo.

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