There was a certain sense of celebration and joy at Stamford Bridge when Mourinho announced his intentions to return to London following his three-year spell at Real Madrid. The team, and especially long serving players like Frank Lampard, John Terry and Petr Cech were over the moon when they learnt that they would be reunited with the Special One.

There is a reason behind that. It all began back in 2004, when a certain young manager had just guided Porto to the holy grail of Europe – the UEFA Champions League. He caught the attention of Chelsea’s billionaire owner Roman Abramovich, who had just acquired the club and was desperate to overturn the fortunes of the club which was struggling to finish within the top 4 in the league.

Abramovich then recruited Mourinho, and the club burst onto the scene in English football right from the word go. Mourinho guided the Blues to back-to-back league titles, but his tenure was short lived as he departed in 2007, only to tour across Europe with Inter Milan and Real Madrid, and return to the club he considers his ‘home’.

He has arrived for his second stint at Chelsea, and the club are once again favorites to secure the league this season, something which was a bit out of reach and had somewhat been taken to another level by the Manchester clubs over the last 2 years.

There are happy times at Chelsea now, and Daily Mail reports Mourinho saying that it was all down to the belief which he instilled within the very foundations of the club – the belief of having the potential of winning the championship. He revealed, “There I was a confrontational leader because I felt that was what the team needed at the time.”

“I called it confrontational leadership: confrontation not just inside, but also outside the group. We were not afraid to say we are the best, we were not afraid to say we are going to win, or we are special, we are going to prove that we are – so it was perfect.”

Will Chelsea’s belief of becoming champions help them become actual champions in the upcoming season?