What Chelsea legend Jose Mourinho once said about the UEFA Conference League

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Chelsea will discover who they will be facing in the UEFA Conference League play-off round on Monday.

Chelsea finished sixth in the Premier League last season, which usually is enough to qualify for the Europa League.

But with Manchester United winning the FA Cup after finishing outside of the top six, the final Europa League spot went to them, leaving Chelsea having to settle for the competition below it.

It was a disappointing development, but it at least gives Enzo Maresca a really good chance to win a Chelsea trophy, which could potentially be the first of the Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital ownership.

It is an honour that former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho won at AS Roma, who would not downplay the achievement despite the Conference League being Europe’s third-tier competition.

• READ MORE: Three players who can benefit from Chelsea dropping down to Europa Conference League

What Jose Mourinho said after Roma’s 2022 UEFA Conference League triumph

Mourinho is a two-time Champions League winner, winning European football’s biggest prize with Inter Milan in 2010 and Porto in 2004.

Even so, to get his hands on the Conference League was “truly special”, according to the 61-year-old.

“It is one thing to win when everyone expects it, when you made the investments to win,” Mourinho was quoted as saying by Sky Sports after Roma won the 2022 Conference League. “But it’s quite another to win when something feels immortal, that feels truly special.

“This remains in the history of Roma, but also mine. I was told only I, Sir Alex [Ferguson] and Giovanni Trapattoni won trophies in three different decades. It makes me feel a little old, but it’s nice for my career.”

With the squad that Chelsea have, it is a feat that they should be easily accomplishing this year.

Should Chelsea take the UEFA Conference League seriously?

Chelsea’s last trophy came two years ago when they won the FIFA Club World Cup.

Since then, the Blues have lost multiple finals and failed to qualify for the Champions League on two occasions.

To not try and win the Conference League would be a bit foolish. They have enough quality players in their squad to go all the way in the competition while competing for a spot in the top four.

Pep Guardiola has a lot of faith in Maresca, but only time will tell if the Italian can be a success at Chelsea and replicate some of the achievements of the Manchester City manager whom he used to work with.