ImagesGetty Images; PAafter a goalless draw at the Vicente Calderon in the semi-final’s first
leg. All was going to plan.
Then, Atletico midfielder Tiago flighted a pass towards the far
post. Eden Hazard, perhaps expecting the ball to soar out of play,
let Juanfran run in behind him. The full-back squared for Adrian to
fire past Mark Schwarzer, and suddenly Atletico had a crucial away
goal. Forced to chase the game, Chelsea eventually lost 3-1.
Months earlier, Mourinho’s first Champions League game back at
Chelsea hadn’t gone well, either, as Mohamed Salah helped Basel
beat the Blues at the Bridge. Mourinho immediately snapped up the
Egyptian, but never got the best out of him.
Midfielder Ramires featured more regularly, and remembers his
manager’s determination to progress in the Champions League.
“Once, we had an away match in the group stage and, if we lost,
we would have exited the Champions League and dropped into the
Europa League,” the Brazilian recalls to FFT. “A day before the game,
he got all of the squad together and said, ‘I don’t want to play in the
Europa League – if you want to, you will have to play by yourselves,
because I don’t want it.’ That had a great impact on the players: we
won convincingly and went through to the next phase.
“He always wanted to win the Champions League with Chelsea. If
he had to argue, he would argue. If he had to praise someone, he’d
praise them. There were games when the team didn’t play well and
only one player stood out – he would greet only that player in the
dressing room after the match, and leave. He wouldn’t say anything
else; only the following day would he criticise us very badly. It was
done so that players wouldn’t relax – it was to keep us on our toes.
As a coach, he knows so much about football. Training sessions were
daily classes of football. I’m happy to say that I worked with him.”
Chelsea were favourites to beat Atletico and it seemed the perfect
chance for their manager to claim a third Champions League crown
- only for Mourinho to become embroiled in not one but two rows.
First, there was the eligibility of Thibaut Courtois, on loan at Atletico
from Chelsea. Eventually, UEFA stepped in and said the goalkeeper
was allowed to play. Then there was a dispute over the scheduling
of a Premier League match at Anfield three days before the second
leg. Mourinho fielded a weakened team but Chelsea still won 2-0,
thwarting Liverpool’s title bid via Steven Gerrard’s slip.
The game Mourinho really wanted to win went less well. “We were
optimistic after our 0-0 draw in the first leg,” remembers Ramires.
“I don’t know how to explain what happened in the second game.”
Mourinho did. He blamed Hazard for switching off at the crucial
moment. “Eden is the kind of player who is not so mentally ready to
look back at his left-back and lay down his life for him,” the coach
said afterwards. “If you see Atletico’s first goal, you will understand
where the mistake was.”
Although Chelsea won the Premier League the following season,
they exited the Champions League in lacklustre fashion, losing on
away goals to PSG in the last 16. When times got tough at the start
of Mourinho’s third season, the public criticism of Hazard returned.
“That had a big impact because he started to lose control of
the squad,” admits Ramires. “It’s one thing to say something
internally, but it’s totally different to criticise someone publicly.
Hazard was our main player, and what he did affected Eden’s
game. Hazard used to collect the ball and attack the opposition. He
started to pass the ball much more, and we missed our main
attacking threat.
“The atmosphere became really heavy. There were guys who were
already angry because they weren’t playing. When something like
that happened with Hazard, those who weren’t playing had another
ally against the manager. It became a snowball that only got bigger.
It reached a stage where nothing would improve.”
Mourinho was soon out of a job. He left his post with the reigning
Premier League champions sat one point above the relegation zone,
having lost nine of their 16 games. Across his two spells at Chelsea,
either side of the club’s Champions League triumph in 2012, he had
been unable to take them to European glory.MAn CHESTER Un ITED V S SEVILLA 2018
“The fans have the right to their opinions, but there’s something
that I call football heritage”Mourinho sat down for his press conference at Manchester United’s
Carrington training base, ready to let rip.
In front of him lay a sheet of facts he’d prepared for the occasion,
à la Rafa Benitez. Three days earlier, United had lost to Sevilla in the
last 16 of the Champions League, sparking criticism from media and
supporters. Mourinho decided to respond.
“The last time Manchester United reached the final was in 2011,”
he said. “In 2012: out in the group phase. In 2013: out in the last 16- I was on the other bench,” he added, referencing his victory over
United with Real Madrid. “In 2014: out in the quarter-finals. In 2015:
no European football. In 2016: out in the group stage. Over seven
years, with four different managers, the best was one quarter-final.
This is football heritage.”
Every word was said loudly and defiantly. Just as with Chelsea’s
semi-final against Barcelona in 2005, Mourinho wanted to set the
agenda. This time, it wasn’t such a good idea.
“It was a performance in itself, like going to watch Laurence Olivier
at the theatre,” says Samuel Luckhurst, who was in attendance for
the Manchester Evening News. “But it didn’t go down well with fans.
When a United boss starts antagonising the supporters, you know
they’re coming to the end of the road.”
Manchester United returned to the Premier League’s top two that
season, for the first time since Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013.
Mourinho described it, not without calculation, as one of his finest
achievements in management. However, the Sevilla showdown was
a telltale sign of underlying problems.
With United big favourites to reach the quarter-finals, Mourinho
surprisingly started with midfield ace Paul Pogba on the bench for
Left Mou’s Madrid
were blown away by
BVB in the 2013 semi-
final first leg; “How
much do you want
for Lewandowski?”2001-02
Second group stage
2002-03
Not in
competition
2003-04
WINNER
2004-05
Semi-finals
2005-06
Last 16
2006-07
Semi-finals
2007-08
Group stage*
2008-09
Last 16
2009-10
WINNER
2010-11
Semi-finals
2011-12
Semi-finals
2012-13
Semi-finals
2013-14
Semi-finals
2014-15
Last 16
2015-16
Group stage*
2016-17
Not in
competition
2017-18
Last 16
2018-19
Group stage*
2019-20
Last 16*Left job midway
through
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