‘We can win with 10 players’ – Enzo Maresca
Enzo Maresca tells TNT Sports: “The effort was very good. First half I think we were better compared to the second half in the way we managed the ball and created chances. Second half we dropped.
“In the last two three games we have conceded two, three goals and it’s not possible to do that. We need to be better defensively but a clean sheet is nice.”
On Joao Pedro’s red card, he says: “A good thing is we are improving and we can win with 10 players. But I think he did not touch on the second one but the dynamic of it is that it was dangerous.
“For us it is a journey that started this season and game after game, we get better.”
Flo Clifford30 September 2025 22:42
‘The boys did okay’ – Jose Mourinho
Jose Mourinho chats to TNT Sports. Asked what he liked from his players and what needs some work, he says: “We played four matches, two game in between matches. I have never trained. I just do recovery. One of my strengths is training, we haven’t had time for that … Some difficulties and big pressure on the players with elections at the club, they cannot escape that.
“We were organised, we studied Chelsea well. We coped well with the designs they put on the pitch. Cucurella in between the lines or out wide. And then a difficult moment with three midfielders on a yellow card in a match with quick transactions. Today, we did enough to get a point and we must now find points elsewhere.
“As a coach that arrived 10 days ago it is a positive feeling. But the next two matches: Porto away and Newcastle away. It is what it is. I told the guys that Chelsea is better than Porto. The boys did okay.”
Flo Clifford30 September 2025 22:34
Chelsea and Enzo Maresca earn breathing room but Champions League glory looks a long way off
Miguel Delaney reports from Stamford Bridge:
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.
Flo Clifford30 September 2025 22:26
That’s three red cards in four games for Chelsea, with Joao Pedro tonight following following Trevoh Chalobah against Brighton and Robert Sanchez against Manchester United. It may have been victory but does Enzo Maresca need to sort out his side’s discipline?
(Getty Images)
Harry Latham-Coyle30 September 2025 22:18
Pedro Neto reacts to Chelsea’s win
Chelsea’s Pedro Neto speaking to TNT Sports post match on his team’s win: “We knew the difficulties we had in the first game and we tried to work hard to manage those difficulties and today was the resilience of the team that came through.
“I think we had a very good game. In the end we could have controlled it a bit more with the quality of what we had but in the end we have the three points.
“It’s a tough team to face at home, we knew we needed to work hard, we did well.”
(Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
Harry Latham-Coyle30 September 2025 22:11
Relief for Chelsea as they managed to see out the game, despite managing it pretty poorly in the second half. They have Benfica’s poor finishing largely to thank for the lack of equaliser, rather than their own defence.
But a win’s a win and their Champions League campaign is off the mark, even if Maresca may have cause for concern over his side’s disciplinary antics, with this the third straight game one of his players has been sent off.
(Action Images via Reuters)
(Action Images via Reuters)
Flo Clifford30 September 2025 22:06
FULL-TIME! Chelsea 1-0 Benfica
90+8 mins: There are two balls on the pitch and Mourinho is the hero as he jogs on to boot one off.
There’s the final whistle! Chelsea survive. Mourinho gives Maresca a hug and storms off down the tunnel.
Flo Clifford30 September 2025 21:56
90+5 mins: Second-half substitute Joao Pedro receives a second yellow for a high boot, and he’ll miss their next Champions League game, against Ajax.
Yet another game in which a Chelsea player gets a red.
Flo Clifford30 September 2025 21:55
90+5 mins: Chelsea make a foray up the other end but Joao Pedro is smothered by red shirts.
TNT Sports comms say it was in fact Mourinho who was brandished with that yellow for protesting. That should be an entertaining post-match press conference…
Flo Clifford30 September 2025 21:53
90+3 mins: The Benfica bench have a yellow brandished in their direction over a foul they weren’t awarded.
The visitors are pushing…
Flo Clifford30 September 2025 21:51