Argentina star Lionel Messi has backed has former foe José Mourinho to be a success at Stamford Bridge after the Portuguese arrived as a manager for a second spell at the club in the summer. Chelsea were without a manager after they decided not to extend the contract of Rafa Benitez, who was at the club for just over six months. They decided to bring in former manager Mourinho on a four-year contract after he left Real Madrid a few weeks ago.

Messi has come up against Mourinho when he was a Chelsea manager in the past. The 25-year-old has said that he does not expect the Spanish league and Real Madrid to be weaker as a result of losing Mourinho. The Portuguese was replaced by Carlo Ancelotti only a few days ago. Messi has praised Ancelotti by saying that he is an equally good manager, who is capable of making Real Madrid challenge for all the trophies.

Barcelona managed to win the league title last season, but they were unsuccessful in their hopes of winning the Champions League for the third time in the last six years. They were beaten quite heavily by Bayern Munich in the semifinals of the competition. Messi is hoping to be successful this year, and he reckons that Barcelona have a strong squad to do that.

“I think the Spanish league is difficult anyway and will continue being difficult. We’ll be fighting against strong teams with great players like Real Madrid. Mourinho was a great coach but we know that Ancelotti is equally great. I think Mourinho will also succeed back at Chelsea because he’s a great manager. I think we have a great team and great players, as we’ve shown over the years,” said Messi, who also welcomed the arrival of Neymar as well.