Jose Mourinho takes a dig at Rafa Benitez: Last season was Chelsea’s worst year

Rafa Benitez and Jose Mourinho

Jose Mourinho has taken another subtle dig at Rafa Benitez as he claimed that Chelsea’s Europa League trophy is ‘not a success’ because it came in the form of failure.

Chelsea defeated Benfica 2-1 last season to lift the Europa title after being knocked out in the Champions’ League group phase, becoming the first title holders to fall at the first hurdle since the group format came into being.

Benitez failed to arrest the poor start to the European campaign made by predecessor Roberto Di Matteo, but after finishing third and falling into the Europa safety net, they went all the way to win the competition.

This has not impressed Mourinho however, as he told reporters prior to Chelsea Champions League clash with Galatasaray, “Last year they were knocked out in the group phase, so it’s not two years of going all the way.

“The Europa League comes as a consequence of being eliminated in the group phase.

“I don’t consider last year as a successful one, because our competition is the Champions League. Last year was our worst year because it’s the only time Chelsea was knocked out in the group phase.

“We have already done better by qualifying through the group phase, but what we did is normal. It’s nothing special, nothing outstanding. We did what we had to do in a group which was not one of the strongest. We did our job.

Chelsea have created 64 chances in this season’s Champions League, claiming 11 assists in the process.