n many ways, Jose Mourinho and Sir Walter
Raleigh have always been alike.
An experienced explorer of foreign lands,
Raleigh spent years in search of El Dorado.
The lost city, allegedly laden with gold, was
a legendary location throughout the
Spanish Empire. It was believed to be
somewhere in South America, and
numerous adventurers had tried to find it.
Raleigh may have been from Devon, but he
fancied a go as well. During the middle of
the Anglo-Spanish War, he sailed west to
Trinidad, captured a Spanish governor and
grilled him for information about the
previous expeditions to El Dorado.
In 1595, Raleigh set off up the Orinoco river
in neighbouring Venezuela.
Mourinho has repeatedly likened his
quest to win Europe’s greatest club
competition with this pursuit for the fabled
city. “The Champions League is El Dorado,”
he’s said – and he doesn’t mean the failed
BBC soap opera.
He has sampled El Dorado’s riches twice
before. The last time was now over a
decade ago, when Inter beat Bayern
Munich in 2010’s final. Mourinho burst into
tears as Howard Webb blew for full-time in
Madrid’s Bernabeu. He’d become only the
third manager to win the European Cup
with two clubs. Ernst Happel had been a
manager for 21 years when he achieved it;
Ottmar Hitzfeld, 18. Mourinho did it in just- In that moment – beaming with joy,
holding the matchball as a souvenir, son
perched on his shoulders – Mourinho had
everything he ever wanted. Yet his
ambition wasn’t sated. “I want to be the
only coach to win the Champions League
with three clubs,” he announced that very
night, confirming he was leaving Inter: destination, Real Madrid.
Over ten years on, he’s yet to achieve that dream, and there are
major doubts he ever will. Mourinho has drifted further and
further from more Champions League glory, in a decade of
drama, disputes and disappointments. Following Spurs’ 4-0
aggregate loss to RB Leipzig in the last 16 of 2019-20’s
competition, it’s now over seven years since he even won a
knockout tie.
Is it all over for Mourinho as a Champions League force? In
2020, we relived some of his Champions League highs and lows
and looked ahead to Tottenham’s RB Leipzig tie.
PORTO V S MAn CHESTER Un ITED 2004
“I understand why Ferguson is emotional – you’d be sad if
your team was dominated by an opponent on a tenth of
the budget”
For Vitor Baia, Mourinho’s ascent to Champions League
stardom really began on December 12, 2003.
That morning, goalkeeper Baia and the rest of Porto’s squad
were huddled around a television at their training ground in
Vila Nova de Gaia, waiting to discover their opponents in the
last 16. The draw provided a daunting answer: Manchester
United. “Mourinho started jumping in a festive mood,” Baia tells
FourFourTwo with a smile. “He said, ‘Finally, a proper rival for us!
Finally, a decent challenge. We’re going to beat them!’ We were
shocked – we didn’t understand that happiness, because we were
apprehensive when we drew United. But then we thought, ‘OK, the
boss is happy – we can make it.’ Right after the draw, Mourinho
started to work on those games.”
Mourinho’s Champions League debut as a manager had come at
the Bernabeu two seasons earlier against Real Madrid’s Galacticos,
having taken over Porto midway through the 2001-02 campaign.
“Only a gun will stop Real Madrid,” he said – though his side nearly
did it without recourse to firearms, losing to a late Santi Solari goal.
Porto’s performance in Madrid gave encouragement to a team
who had lost to Barry Town in one leg of a qualifying tie earlier that
season, under Octavio Machado. Porto were 5th in the Primeira Liga
when Mourinho began. “I remember his first speech to the squad,”
says Baia, who’d worked with his new boss during Mourinho’s time
as assistant at both Porto and Barcelona. “He said we were probably
too far behind to win the league that season but we’d definitely be
champions in the next one. And guess what? It happened.
“Even at Barcelona, we could see that young man was special.
Louis van Gaal trusted him to research opponents – in pre-match78 The Managers FourFourTwo.com