Undermine Jose Mourinho at your own peril. He is like a cat with nine lives. When you think he’s dead and buried, he conjures another mouth-watering magic.
The ‘Chosen One’ as he is fondly referred by his numerous fans, led Roma to win their first major European tournament in their history last season when they defeated Feyenoord 1-0 in the Conference League final.
While they are yet still basking in the euphoria of that great feat, Mourinho has done it again, this time qualifying the Roman- based side to the Europa league final, where they will face Sevilla of Spain, Europa league multiple winning champions.
The Portuguese is indeed a master and a genius when it comes to cup competitions. He just has a way of navigating his team all the way, irrespective of which team he finds himself.
The fascinating thing about Mourinho’s conquests in Europe is that he does it with modest sides without huge spendings. Prior to his coming to Roma, the club could only manage to qualify for the conference league, which he then guided them to win after he took over.
Then, the quintessential Mourinho qualified them for the Europa league in his first season as their coach and also winning the Conference league. But with a net spending of €7m Mourinho has led Roma to reach the Europa league final, which is his second successive finals in two different competitions in two seasons.
The respected gaffer did it with Porto winner both the Europa and Champions league for them respectively. He has since gone ahead to win the Champions league with Inter Milan, Europa league with Manchester United, Conference league with Roma and now in the final of Europa league with Roma.
Therefore, the last time Porto was in the final of either Europa or Champions league final they were coached by Mourinho. The last time Inter won the Champions league, Mourinho was their coach. Manchester United’s last European trophy was won by Mourinho. Note that he has won in three decades with different clubs. What more can be said of the ‘Special One’.
