Maurizio Sarri says he has to win trophies at Chelsea to match 'better' Jose Mourinho

While Mourinho was winning the Champions League, successive league titles and a treble at Internazionale, Sarri was still bouncing around lower-league clubs

Maurizio Sarri has admitted that he needs to win trophies to match “better” managers like Jose Mourinho - and said he could never have imagined competing against the Portuguese when they were at very different levels in Italy between 2008-10.

The Portuguese returns to Chelsea on Saturday amidst a hugely difficult season where his position has repeatedly been called into question, in contrast to the praise Sarri has received for his effect on the London club. It marks quite a contrast from the brief period when they were both in Italy at the same time.

While Mourinho was winning the Champions League, successive league titles and a treble at Internazionale, Sarri was still finding his way in the game and bouncing around lower-league clubs like Hellas Verona, Perugia and Grosseto. Sarri considers himself “lucky” to have got to where he is now.

Asked whether he could have envisaged facing Mourinho as a true rival in those days, the 59-year-old said: “Probably not. My target, in that period, was to be a professional coach. I didn't think in that period that I was able to arrive in the Champions League. It was incredible at that moment [to think that], so I think I am lucky.”

Sarri maintained that the situation has now greatly changed and he must start winning trophies, especially if he is to be talked of in the same breath as managers like Mourinho. He said the United manager’s record obviously makes him better.

“Of course… the results speak for him, I think. So, at the moment, he is better than me for sure. I hope to improve myself in the future, but at the moment I have to say he's better than me.

“He has won everything everywhere. So I need to win if I want to compare myself to him. At the moment, it's not possible [to compare]. You are talking about one of the best coaches in the world, and I'm not at the moment one of the best.

Maurizio Sarri admitted he shares some qualities with Jose Mourinho (Getty)

“I'd like to win something because, at the moment, I need to win. I have won Serie B, Serie C, Serie D like the Championship, League One and League Two here in England. But now I need to win at this level.”

Asked whether he likes Mourinho’s football, however, Sarri didn’t quite address the question but he did insist their determination is probably similar.

“The problem is not the way of football, if I like it or not. The focus is he is able to win. He has won everything everywhere, so probably that means he is right.

“I think he is different. I think that I have my character, and my character probably is different to his character. So I have to be myself, always. Otherwise I am not credible.

Sarri managed Empoli while Mourinho was at Inter Milan (Getty)

“But I think that, without determination, it's impossible to arrive here from a non-professional team. So I can speak very calmly, but I think my level of determination is the top level.

“The character is different, but maybe the level of determination is the same.”

When it was put to Sarri why he considers himself “lucky” to be here, he pointed to the circumstances he found himself in for his big break at Empoli in 2013-14. That was the season that finally gained him promotion to Serie A for the first time.

“To be in the right place in the right moment [was lucky]. First of all, to arrive in Empoli. In Empoli, I had a very young team, but the players were very young but very good. I remember that we won Serie B with [Daniele] Rugani, who was 19. [Elseid] Hysaj who was 19. [Riccardo] Saponara, who was 20. [Lorenzo] Tonelli who was 21.

"I was lucky to have young players, but good players. Nobody knew them at that moment, but they were very good. So I was lucky.”