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‘Frank Lampard said in front of everyone that I was the best, even though he was given man of the match. I’d played out of my usual position and it was perfect’ Juliano Belletti on his Chelsea highpoint

By Contributions from published

Belletti spent three years at Stamford Bridge following a £4million move from Barcelona in 2007

Juliano Belletti
Juliano Belletti during his Chelsea days (Image credit: Getty)

During his three-year Chelsea stay, Juliano Belletti would win two FA Cups and one Premier League title, despite then-owner Roman Abramovich’s revolving door policy in the Stamford Bridge dugout.

Belletti was signed from Barcelona in 2007 in a £4million move by Jose Mourinho, but the Portuguese was sacked a month into the new campaign.

Brazilian full-back Belletti would then play under Avram Grant, Luiz Felipe Scolari, Ray Wilkins and Gus Hiddink over the next three seasons before he left the club for Fluminense at the expiration of his contract.

Belletti recalls his best Chelsea performance

Luiz Felipe Scolari managing Brazil at the 2002 World Cup

Luiz Felipe Scolari during the 2002 World Cup with Brazil (Image credit: Alamy)

Scolari’s time at the club saw Belletti reunited with the manager who led Brazil to victory at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, so it is perhaps little surprise that his best Blues performance came during this spell.

While Scolari would fail to see out the 2008/09 campaign, his time in the Premier League began brightly, with his side the early pace-setters.

Frank Lampard celebrates after scoring for Chelsea against Barcelona in the Champions League in March 2005.

Frank Lampard had plenty of praise for Belletti (Image credit: Getty Images)

A marker was laid down when the Blues put in a dominant display away from home that October to win 5-0 in Middlesbrough to keep their place at the top of the early table.

“The people at Chelsea remember me fondly thanks to that afternoon,” Belletti recalls. “Scolari was coaching Chelsea and this time he gave me a starting role in central midfield, as he knew from the 2002 World Cup what I could do.

“He gave me confidence and I scored a great goal into the top corner from 30 metres out. It was the first time I’d heard the Chelsea fans chanting my name.

“We won 5-0 and in the dressing room afterwards, Frank Lampard said in front of everyone that I was the best of the lot, even though he was given man of the match.

Guus Hiddink celebrates with the FA Cup after Chelsea's win over Everton in the final in May 2009.

Guus Hiddink was in charge at Chelsea by the time they won the FA Cup in May 2009. (Image credit: Getty Images)

“I was playing out of my usual position and it was perfect.”

Chelsea would go on to finish third in the table that season, but Belletti and company did end the campaign with an FA Cup winners’ medal following a 2-1 win over Everton at Wembley.

Joe Mewis
Joe Mewis

For more than a decade, Joe Mewis has worked in football journalism as a reporter and editor. Mewis has had stints at Mirror Football and LeedsLive among others and worked at FourFourTwo throughout Euro 2024, reporting on the tournament. In addition to his journalist work, Mewis is also the author of four football history books that include times on Leeds United and the England national team. Now working as a digital marketing coordinator at Harrogate Town, too, Mewis counts some of his best career moments as being in the iconic Spygate press conference under Marcelo Bielsa and seeing his beloved Leeds lift the Championship trophy during lockdown.

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