Jose Mourinho names the Chelsea player who struggled vs Benfica before being saved by Enzo Maresca

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Jose Mourinho believes his Benfica side made life extremely difficult for one Chelsea player on Tuesday night.

Chelsea were able to beat Benfica in their Champions League fixture, but it was a really tight game.

It took an own goal from Richard Rios for the Blues to win the match. They also finished the encounter with 10 men once again following Joao Pedro’s red card.

Before the sending off, Rangers legend Ally McCoist slammed Benfica defender Nicolas Otamendi after an incident involving the former Manchester City star and Pedro.

• READ MORE: Jose Mourinho’s beautiful gesture to Chelsea fans after hearing his name being sung in Benfica match

Jose Mourinho claims Malo Gusto struggled against Benfica

Enzo Maresca went with Malo Gusto instead of Reece James on Tuesday night, with the latter being rotated after starting at right-back in Chelsea’s 3-1 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion last Saturday.

Mourinho felt that his replacement struggled before Maresca eventually decided to bring on the Chelsea captain.

Speaking to reporters after the game, Mourinho said: “We saw Malo Gusto was struggling. Enzo Maresca put on a better player than Malo Gusto. This is the challenge of facing Chelsea.”

Benfica and Brighton are not the only teams who have given Chelsea a real match this season.

Last week, the Blues narrowly beat League One side Lincoln City in the Carabao Cup. Gusto spoke after the Lincoln tie, expressing his surprise at some of the Imps’ tactics on the night.

In the end, though, Chelsea were able to defeat Lincoln before claiming victory over Mourinho’s side, which is the most important thing.

What the numbers say about Malo Gusto’s performance

At times, most of Chelsea’s backline was tested by Benfica, who probably should have returned to Portugal with a point.

By taking Gusto off, Mourinho would have felt that Maresca was doing him a favour. His statistics, though, were not the worst.

For example, the France international managed to make two tackles and was actually not dribbled past once.

Looking at his numbers, then, it is fair to say that Gusto has had worse games in a Chelsea shirt.

Again, though, the 22-year-old and the rest of Chelsea’s defence could have easily conceded against Benfica. He may have been glad to have been taken out of the firing line by Maresca towards the end of the game.