How much were Jose Mourinho's Chelsea hated during his first spell at Stamford Bridge?
According to Jamie Carragher, so much that Wayne Rooney and Manchester United stars celebrated a Liverpool win over the Blues.
Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich bought the Stamford Bridge club in 2003 and quickly invested massive sums of money which brought the Blues huge success on the field.
Under Mourinho's first spell in west London, between 2004 and 2007, his side won back-to-back Premier League titles, two League Cups and the FA Cup.
However, the Blues' rapid rise and what Carragher described as their "cocky, arrogant" swagger was met with great hostility from rivals.
Now the Liverpool great has disclosed how Rooney and co supported Liverpool during their 2007 Champions League semi-final against Chelsea.
"Wayne Rooney told me a story once, and I think it showed the animosity towards Chelsea at that time, from a lot of clubs," Carragher told Chelsea legend John Terry, for Sky Sports.
"Jose was so brash, so much on the front foot, cocky, arrogant, good looking.
"He seemed to have everything at that time.
"Rooney told us that when we beat you on penalties in the 2007 semi-final, and they were playing their semi-final second leg against Milan the next evening, all the Man United lot in the hotel watching it before erupted and cheered when we won.
"And you think with the Liverpool and Man United rivalry, I think it just shows how much you were respected and feared, but also how much Jose Mourinho got under people’s skin."
Terry admitted that the whole of the English top flight resented Chelsea, but maintains that Mourinho made them feel unbeatable.
He said: "I think we were disliked by I think the whole of the Premier League.
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