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Love him or hate him, there’s no disputing that Jose Mourinho has been one of the most successful managers of the last two decades, winning major trophies in England, Italy and Spain.
The Portuguese’s favourite stamping ground though has arguably been the Champions League; Mourinho has led outsiders Porto and Inter Milan to victories in Europe’s biggest competition while also overseeing huge results for Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester United too.
Can he now lead Tottenham to glory in the competition? Only time will tell, but if he does so, he’ll have to reach the same heights that he managed in the following 5 historic Champions League performances.
#1 FC Porto vs. Manchester United – Round of 16, 2003-04
The 2003-04 edition of the Champions League, saw Portuguese titleholders and winners of the previous season’s UEFA Cup FC Porto qualify for the knockout stages after finishing in second place in their group behind Real Madrid.
At that point, Jose Mourinho was beginning to garner a reputation as one of the best young managers in the game, but few people expected his side – filled largely with Portuguese players – to overcome Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United in the round of 16.
But that’s exactly what happened, with Mourinho announcing himself to the world as the manager to watch in the 2000’s. Porto were fantastic in their 2-1 victory in the first leg of the tie at the Estadio do Dragao, dominating the match and having 18 shots on goal to United’s 4, despite the Red Devils taking an early lead through Quinton Fortune.
Porto fought back and ended up cementing the win thanks to a brace from Benni McCarthy, and with midfielder Deco in particular controlling the game with his ability on the ball, United became frustrated and saw their captain Roy Keane dismissed for a stamp on goalkeeper Vitor Baia.
The result still left United in with a chance, though – a 1-0 win at Old Trafford would’ve been enough – but in another game low on scoring opportunities, Mourinho had the last laugh. Ferguson’s side took the lead through Paul Scholes' goal in the first half, and then looked to have doubled it when the England man struck again – only for a controversial offside call to chalk the goal off.
But despite United pushing for the killer second goal, Mourinho’s men hung tough – and in the dying seconds of the game, they struck a fatal blow of their own when holding midfielder Costinha pounced on a spilled ball from keeper Tim Howard to prod home, sending the Portuguese side through.
Mourinho’s celebration – sprinting along the touchline at Old Trafford – remains famous today as the moment in which he truly rose to fame – or infamy, depending on your tastes.
#2 FC Porto vs. Monaco – Final, 2003-04
After their huge victory over Manchester United in the round of 16, Mourinho’s Porto put together an unexpected run to the final of the 2003-04 Champions League, defeating Lyon and Deportivo La Coruna along the way.
With the biggest prize in club football on the line, they were faced with an equally unfancied opponent – France’s Monaco – who had defeated both Real Madrid and Chelsea to book their place at the Arena AufSchalke.
The word coming into the match was that whichever side came out on top would see their manager – either Mourinho or Didier Deschamps – appointed as the next boss of Chelsea, meaning the final took on another fascinating dimension.
In the end it was the Portuguese side that came out on top, and it happened in what would later be considered classic Mourinho fashion. Porto were on the back foot for the majority of the game, but thanks to some dogged defending from the likes of Jorge Costa and Ricardo Carvalho, restricted Monaco to just 8 shots, none of them on target.
And when Mourinho’s side hit their French opponents on the break, they did it in style; a first half opener from Carlos Alberto was followed by second half strikes from Deco and Dmitri Alenichev that handed Porto a 3-0 victory and their second ever Champions League triumph. It was a masterclass from Mourinho’s side, who only conceded 4 goals throughout the entire knockout stages.
Just one week later the Portuguese boss moved to Chelsea, and the rest is history.
#3 Chelsea vs. Barcelona – Round of 16, 2004-05
Across two spells as Chelsea manager, Mourinho oversaw plenty of big successes, including 3 Premier League title victories. The Champions League was essentially the one trophy that eluded the Portuguese during his time at Stamford Bridge. But despite this, he still led the Blues to plenty of memorable European victories – and one of the most notable was this round of 16 triumph over Spanish giants Barcelona in his first season at the club.
The first leg didn’t go to plan at all for Mourinho’s men; stepping into hostile territory at the Nou Camp, Chelsea took the lead through a Juliano Belletti own goal after a counter-attack in the 32nd minute, but things started to go south after half-time in controversial circumstances.
First, Didier Drogba was strangely dismissed by referee Anders Frisk after a seemingly innocuous challenge on keeper Victor Valdes after 55 minutes, and just 10 minutes later, Barca were level through substitute Maxi Gomez. The Blues tried to hold firm, but with 17 minutes to go, Lopez set up Samuel Eto’o for a winner.
The aftermath of the game would go down in infamy; Mourinho refused to say a word to the press at first, but then accused Barca boss Frank Rijkaard of making a visit to Frisk’s dressing room at half-time – insinuating that the sending off of Drogba had been pre-meditated.
UEFA ended up fining Chelsea and handing Mourinho a touchline ban for the accusations, but the Portuguese ended up having the last laugh.
Needing at least a 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge to send La Blaugrana crashing out, the Blues came out with a vengeance and flew into a 3-0 lead inside just 19 minutes with goals from Eidur Gudjohnsen, Frank Lampard and Damian Duff. Less than 10 minutes later, though, Barca pulled a goal back from the penalty spot, Ronaldinho netting after a handball from Paolo Ferreira.
And when the Brazilian levelled the tie with a spectacular, curling shot from the edge of the box, it looked like curtains for Mourinho. But there was still time for one last sting in the tail, and sure enough, on 76 minutes Blues captain John Terry rose highest to head home a corner and despite Barcelona’s attempts at a comeback, Chelsea were able to hold on and win the tie – giving Mourinho a huge moral victory in his war with the club he’d once worked with.
#4 Inter Milan vs. Barcelona – Semi-Finals, 2009-10
By the turn of the decade, Mourinho had cemented his reputation as a serial winner with Chelsea – and following his surprising sacking during the 2007-08 campaign, he’d moved to Italy with Inter Milan, where he won the Scudetto at his first attempt. But it was the 2009-10 season that saw his greatest triumph in the Champions League – and arguably the best part of it didn’t come in the final.
After winning the 2008-09 edition of the competition by defeating holders Manchester United, the football world was quick to crown Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona side as the greatest in the history of the game, and many observers believed that his team’s revolutionary tiki-taka style was practically unbeatable.
Mourinho proved that idea firmly wrong though by masterminding a victory for his Inter side over La Blaugrana across two legs in the semi-finals of the 2009-10 edition, with the Italian champions coming out 3-2 winners on aggregate.
The first leg was a true Mourinho masterclass; his Inter side gave up 71% of possession to Guardiola’s men, but worked phenomenally hard, pressing the Spanish side heavily and hitting them with swift counter-attacks. And so after falling behind to Pedro’s 19th minute goal, Mourinho’s Nerazzurri hit back through Wesley Sneijder, Maicon and Diego Milito to take a 3-1 lead into the second leg at the Nou Camp.
Even that didn’t guarantee the victory, but in another classic performance from a Mourinho team, Inter put together a display of incredible defensive toughness, shutting Guardiola’s side out and reducing them to just 7 shots on target despite giving up 76% possession.
A late goal from Gerard Pique handed Barca the win on the night, but less than 10 minutes later, the Italian side were through – prompting another wild show of joy from the Portuguese boss, who sprinted wildly down the touchline in a scene reminiscent of his famous celebration against Manchester United 6 years earlier.
#5 Inter Milan vs. Bayern Munich – Final, 2009-10
After the way their victory over Barcelona in the semi-finals had been celebrated, plenty of people would’ve been forgiven for assuming Inter Milan had already won the 2009-10 Champions League – but of course, there was still one final test for them to pass: a showdown with Bayern Munich in the final, with Mourinho facing off against one of his earliest mentors in the form of legendary Dutch boss Louis Van Gaal.
Bayern had been largely irresistible during their Champions League campaign that season, beating Fiorentina, Manchester United and Lyon en route to the final and calling upon the talents of proven world-class performers like Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Arjen Robben. But like Barcelona before them, the Bavarian giants ran into a brick wall in the form of Mourinho’s Nerazzurri.
After a quick start from Inter saw them launch a couple of attacks, the game was largely dominated by Bayern – who enjoyed 68% possession and had 21 shots on goal – but try as they might, they simply could not score. Inter’s attacking force, meanwhile, seemed completely absent – until they launched a counter-attack 10 minutes before half-time, with Wesley Sneijder linking up with Diego Milito to set up a nicely clipped goal for the Argentine.
Bayern came out strongly in the second half, but once again found themselves firmly repelled, and on 70 minutes, another counter-attack saw Milito turn past Mark Van Buyten before firing into the net to give Mourinho’s side a 2-0 lead. This time the sting was drawn from the game, and the Italian side settled down before confirming their victory.
The win gave Mourinho his second Champions League title – and most notably, his Inter side had beaten the champions of England, Spain and Germany along the way. The victory remains one of the most remarkable Champions League wins in recent years – and so who would bet against Mourinho pulling off one more before he’s done?
