Jose Mourinho will attempt to strengthen his record against Newcastle United tonight.
The Special One is in town, as Newcastle United take on Benfica in the Champions League.
It is set to be another exciting European night inside St James’ Park, with Jose Mourinho back at a club he holds dearly because of Sir Bobby Robson.
During his managerial career, Mourinho has faced Newcastle United with Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, and now he arrives with Benfica after taking over the Portuguese club in September.
Jose Mourinho has won more than half of his games against Newcastle United
Since his first meeting with the Magpies in December 2004, Mourinho has managed a team against Newcastle United on 21 occasions.
He has usually been victorious over those 21 games, with the 62-year-old winning 11 of his 21 games versus Newcastle.
Across the other 10 games, Mourinho has overseen five draws and five defeats.
While Mourinho’s overall record against Newcastle is strong, it is a different story when you only focus on the games at St James’ Park.
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Away from home, he has won just three games out of 12 at St James’ Park. His most recent victory on Tyneside was with Tottenham Hotspur in 2020. Interestingly, that is his only Premier League win away at Newcastle.
He has won 25% of his games at St James’ Park, while he has won 52% of his games against Newcastle United in total.
Eddie Howe will hope that record gets worse on Tuesday night in the Champions League.
Jose Mourinho loves visiting St James’ Park despite his poor record
Given the quality of sides that Mourinho has managed against Newcastle United, it is quite surprising that his record at St James’ Park is as poor as it is.
Despite his stuttering form on Tyneside, Mourinho admitted during his pre-match press conference that he absolutely loves St James’ Park and has briefed his players to expect an incredible atmosphere from the Toon Army.
“Today they [Newcastle United] are a team that is very close to bigger things, bigger things that these people here deserve,” he said.
“It’s a completely different area from London, the culture of Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, the biggest teams in London, it’s completely different from the culture, from the society in this area. I love playing here.
“I told the players in the conversation I had with them yesterday that even as an opponent, that even as an opponent, it’s beautiful to play here. It’s fantastic to play here. You will see tomorrow that the atmosphere is extraordinary.
We have to cope with that emotion. We have to cope with it. We have to be strong enough to cope with it.”