Jose must find answer to old English puzzle

In reality, though, he will be doing well enough even if he manages to emulate the feat of his predecessor Claudio Ranieri last season when he guided Chelsea to the semi-final of the Champions League.

Even that, plus a second place in the Premiership, wasn't enough to save Ranieri.

The memory of the Italian tinkerman still lingers. This time last year it was he who was beginning the European adventure with Chelsea, an exciting journey which took them past Sparta Prague, Besiktas, Lazio, Stuttgart and Arsenal before he committed tactical suicide against Didier Deschamps' Monaco in the semi-final.

The contrast between the two men is great. The genial Ranieri talked of musketeers, supermen and extraterrestrials. Mourinho is less expansive but just as interesting.

The Italian changed his team and systems at will. Mostly it worked, but in Monte Carlo it didn't.

The Portuguese has also changed his line-up but seems more organised in his tactics, less gung-ho. From the outside, everyone seemed to like Ranieri while you suspect there are some who would love to see Mourinho fall flat on his face.

The Chelsea coach will plan meticulously, as usual, in advance of tonight's clash against a Paris St Germain side who will be no pushovers despite a poor start to their domestic league which sees them still looking for their first win after five matches.

In Jerome Rothen, they have a player who caused Chelsea trouble down the left flank in that fateful first leg in Monaco. PSG pushed the boat out to sign Rothen during the summer and Bosnian coach Vahid Halilhodzic waxed lyrical when he said: "It's wonderful to have him playing for, rather than against us.

"He brings so much to the team. Every match Jerome sets up three or four scoring chances and we have to make the most of them."

Mourinho will have taken steps to ensure that Rothen does not enjoy the kind of freedom he experienced for Monaco against Chelsea last season but there are other PSG players who will need watching tonight, including prolific striker Pedro Pauleta, who has scored 12 goals in 22 appearances in European competitions for a variety of clubs.

It must seem a long while ago now, that Mourinho planted a kiss on the European Cup and walked quietly away and left his Porto players to go berserk.

Whether he will do something similar in Istanbul next May is anybody's guess, but he will certainly believe it is possible.

"I am a European champion," he said. "And as that, I think I deserve a little respect."

The rest of Europe's top coaches surely have no argument with that sentiment even though some of them will now do their best to plot his imminent demise.