Chelsea’s 1-0 win against Benfica was briefly stopped after an unsavoury incident saw Benfica fans throw objects at Enzo Fernandez.
Fernandez, who joined Chelsea from Benfica in a £106.8million transfer in January 2023, was forced to delay a corner he was taking at Stamford Bridge due to a number of missiles thrown in his direction.
The missiles came from the area of the Shed End where away supporters are housed.
Eventually the set piece was taken, only after former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho stepped in to gesture towards the Benfica fans to calm them down.
Special from The Special One
“Let me just clear up this Enzo Fernandez thing and I’m gonna mention Jose Mourinho as well in this because he did something quite special actually in that incident,” Adrian Durham said on commentary for talkSPORT.
“So Enzo’s going over to take a corner. The Benfica fans are right there, they’re throwing all sorts at him.
“It’s not just about the move. When he was linked with Chelsea, he kissed the Benfica badge on the pitch and then signed for Chelsea…
“You can understand the passion of the fans. Fans don’t celebrate money in the bank. They don’t buy scarves with pound signs on. They don’t remember the glory days of selling your best player £400million, they remember trophies and victories.
“They remember that the glory on the pitch – they’re not interested in bank balances. Is it any wonder he got stick down there?
“Jose Mourinho went all the way down the touchline to urge the Benfica fans just to calm right down and in the end that worked. So, fair play to Jose.”
Meanwhile, former Chelsea player Scott Minto added: “I’m with you. I mean what I would say is I’ll just reiterate a lot of money was made for the club.
“But fans are why we love football so much, it’s why it’s so tribalistic. The Benfica fans, you are absolutely spot on, they don’t care how much money’s made.
“They just saw a player who came in, kissed the badge and then said, ‘I ain’t playing for you again until I get this move’.
“Honestly, he’s got to be able to deal with that Enzo Fernandez, and actually I didn’t think he dealt with that very well at all following the next few minutes.”
Durham responded: “He lost his head, didn’t he?”
That incident came in a match which otherwise ran smoothly for Chelsea, with an own goal by Richard Rios sealing the three points for the Blues.
It means Chelsea have three points from two matches in their Champions League campaign, having lost their opening outing of the season at Bayern Munich.
Chelsea’s next outing sees them face Premier League champions Liverpool on Saturday.
Mourinho reaction
The Portuguese boss made a return to the Blues, who he’s managed twice, in his new role as Benfica boss.
Mourinho was appointed by the Portuguese giants on September 18, a matter of weeks after being sacked by Turkish side Fenerbahce.
“We played four matches with two days in between,”Mourinho told TNT Sports after the match.
“I never trained, I just recovered in between and one of my strengths is on the pitch, training. You don’t have time for that. When a team changes coach mid-season it’s because things are not good.
“So we’ve had some difficulties and also a period of big pressure for the players with the election period at the club – it’s almost a political campaign and the players can’t escape that.
“Coming to the match today, a defeat is always a defeat but there are defeats and defeats.
“This one is one that can be a start for them, it was a stable performance. We could’ve come away from here with a draw and it would’ve been positive.”