José Mourinho reveals Chelsea v Benfica starter: He’ll be in the line-up | OneFootball

José Mourinho confirmed that Dodi Lukebakio will start for Chelsea - Benfica. The Eagles' coach spoke with journalists at a press conference previewing the second matchday of the Champions League group stage.

"He will play. He will start. I don’t know for how long. The other day, he played sixty-something minutes. We’ll see tomorrow about the intensity, what the game demands from him, and how he adapts to a different pace. But he starts; I prefer it this way rather than saving him for 30 minutes. We’ll put him in the game and then we’ll see," he began, regarding Dodi Lukebakio.

He then spoke about the new Champions League format: "The formats change. The first time I played in the Champions League as Mr. Robson’s assistant, it was still the format where the ‘knockout’ was at the start, then came the group stage, then single-leg semifinals at the home of the team that finished first in the group...".

"In that semifinal, it was Barcelona-FC Porto and Milan-Monaco. Then we moved to another format and now we’re in this one. When I was European champion the first time, it was the format that lasted the longest. There were times when there was only one team per country... Then it started to expand to feed more people and more important federations. I’m still learning to get to know this format," he added, recalling one of his Champions League triumphs.

José Mourinho finished with a few words about the chances of Portuguese teams in this competition: "There are so many economic sharks that it’s increasingly difficult for Portuguese teams. Benfica is a giant, a giant. I compare it historically and socially to the biggest clubs in Europe, much bigger than clubs that, economically, are much stronger than Benfica. Right now, there are very powerful clubs. But we can compete with them on the pitch. And that’s why, in response to your colleague, if I would sign for a draw, I wouldn’t sign anything. We’re going to play, compete, and try to win."

Watch Lukebakio’s debut for Benfica here:

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.