With more Portuguese coaches in this season's UEFA Champions League than from any other nation, and with four facing off against each other on matchday two, UEFA.com takes the opportunity to celebrate the country's men in the dugout. With clubs across five countries led by Portugal's coaching elite, it was inevitable there would be meetings between compatriots – and this week André Villas-Boas tackles Leonardo Jardim while Marco Silva is up against José Mourinho.

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Jorge Jesus, SL Benfica

The eldest of the six, Jesus had an arguably modest playing career but has excelled as a coach. After graduating through the lower leagues, he took the Benfica helm in 2009 and has since won two Liga titles and one Portuguese Cup with the Eagles as well as guiding them to the UEFA Europa League final for the past two seasons. "Portuguese football has a lot of quality, with coaches that have huge tactical and strategic knowledge of the game – which makes them the best in the world," said the 60-year-old.

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Paulo Sousa, FC Basel 1893

The most accomplished player among the six, winning the UEFA Champions League twice, the former international midfielder is making his coaching debut in the competition. Having gained experience with the likes of Queens Park Rangers FC, Videoton FC and Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC, the 44-year-old replaced Hakan Yakin at Basel in the summer, enduring the toughest of group stage bows with a trip to Real Madrid CF that ended in a 5-1 loss. He will hope for better when his side host Liverpool FC on matchday two.

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José Mourinho, Chelsea FC

With 100 UEFA Champions League games to his name as a coach, in a competition he has already won twice, Mourinho is the most famous Portuguese boss in history. A sports science graduate, he ended an unspectacular footballing career aged only 24 and a few years later was assisting Sir Bobby Robson at Sporting Clube de Portugal and FC Porto. The now 51-year-old proceeded to lift the European Cup with Porto and FC Internazionale Milano as well as enjoying trophy-laden spells with Chelsea and Madrid. He now encounters Sporting's Marco Silva for the first time.

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Marco Silva, Sporting Clube de Portugal

The least experienced Portuguese coach in the tournament, the 37-year-old took his first job four years ago at Estoril Praia, where he had finished playing. In three years in the dugout he steered the club into the top tier in his first season, followed by UEFA Europa League qualification in the next two. It was enough for Sporting to hand him the reins this term. "Mourinho and Villas-Boas are the most visible faces of the quality of Portuguese coaches," he said. "They had success in Europe and made us want to follow their example. Myself and other young coaches can do that."

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Leonardo Jardim, AS Monaco FC

Having begun coaching as a 23-year-old in Madeira, Jardim worked his way up to Liga level before trying his luck abroad. He first tasted UEFA Champions League football in charge of Olympiacos FC, before helping Sporting qualify as league runners-up last season. He now meets Villas-Boas for the fifth time – an adversary he has toppled only once, a penalties victory in the Portuguese Cup for SC Beira-Mar versus A. Académica de Coimbra. "We have been proving for a few years now that in Portugal there are coaches of great quality," said the 40-year-old.

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André Villas-Boas, FC Zenit

Like Mourinho, Villas-Boas was a protege of Sir Bobby Robson at Porto after starting to coach aged 17. He would assist Mourinho at Porto, Chelsea and Inter before striking out on his own. After becoming the youngest coach to win a European competition, with Porto's triumph in the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League, he managed Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur FC before heading to Russia. "We should marvel at the fact we have so many Portuguese coaches in the group stage. I only regret that we cannot all go through, as three of us are in the same group," said the man who has won four of his five past encounters with Jardim.