He claimed he was the special one after he took over at Chelsea following his miraculous UEFA Champions League win with Porto in 2004. Before winning the UEFA Champions League, Jose Mourinho went onto win the UEFA Cup with Porto in 2003. The self proclaimed Special one then went onto win the English Premier League in his first season in England with Chelsea. He took http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786 to the brink of the UEFA Champions League semi-final on numerous occasions but the holy grail of European football eluded him time and again.
After falling out with Roman Abramovich at Stamford Bridge, Jose was snapped up by Inter Milan. Following a Scudetto win in his very first season at the Milanese club, Jose’s Nerazzurri went onto become the European champions in 2009-2010 after defeating Barcelona in the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League. Jose’s provocative nature has defined his career as a manager thus far.
This was encapsulated in his march down the Old Trafford pitch when Porto defeated Manchester United in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League in 2004. When Inter bested Barcelona over the two legs in the semi-final, Mourinho ran onto the Nou Camp pitch with his arm in the air. Like Mohammad Ali’s equivalent of football management, Mourinho’s gesture almost stated the obvious; “I’m the greatest! I’m the greatest!”
In the 2009-2010 UEFA Champions League season, Jose’s Inter were seen as underdogs when they came up against the mighty Barcelona at the semi-final stage. As defending champions, Barcelona were firing on all cylinders assisted by the best player in the world, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lionel-Messi-c22296. Core of Guardiola’s team would go onto win the FIFA World Cup in the summer of 2010 but Mourinho’s Inter would deny the Catalonian giants the opportunity to become the first team in the history of the UEFA Champions League to defend its title successfully. Inter went onto win the tournament itself by outplaying Bayern Munich in the pen-ultimate matchup.
In the summer, Jose Mourinho decided to take up the most difficult job in club football, management of Real Madrid football club. In his first meeting with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Inter-c39567’s semi-final win over the Spanish giants since last year’s Champion’s league, Mourinho’s Real Madrid were dealt a humbling 5-0 defeat at Nou Camp. Since then, Mourinho’s men have drawn against their arch rivals and also defeated them in the final of the Copa Del Rey. However, things turned sour for the Portuguese tactician and his team when Barcelona won in the first-leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid.
On Tuesday night, Barcelona host Real Madrid and Jose Mourinho once again. The self proclaimed Special one has been under tremendous criticism since his team’s two goal loss to Guardiola’s outfit. He has been called a die-hard cynic; his tactical genius has been doubted, as despite having a dearth of attacking talent at his disposal, Mourinho has used defensive tactics at Real Madrid. When Real travel to Nou Camp on 3rd of May 2011, Jose’s legacy will be on the line, the self proclaimed special one has to turn the tables on Barcelona if he is to actually become, the special one.
The views expressed by the writer are his own and do not reflect the official editorial policy of ViewArticle/www.bettor.com
Tags: