Mourinho prepares his pantheon
Portuguese coach is two games from European immortality as Real Madrid faces Bayern return match
Two season-defining matches in a few days could prove to be the defining moment of José Mourinho’s career. The Portuguese coach currently has two Champions League titles to his name with two different clubs, Porto and Inter. Only one man has more European successes, the legendary Bob Paisley, who led Liverpool to three wins in 1977, 1978 and 1981. Should Mourinho deliver a 10th European Cup to Real, he will be elevated to the status of Paisley, perhaps even a rung higher on the podium, considering he will have guided three different teams from three different countries to European glory.
It can be said of Mourinho that he has never had to craft a side from callow youth, but Paisley splashed 900,000 pounds on the proven Scottish triumvirate of Kenny Dalglish, Alan Hansen and Graeme Souness in the summer of 1977, the former arriving for a then-British transfer record. Like Paisley, Mourinho led Porto to its first Champions League triumph the season after delivering the Uefa Cup. The many coincidences around Wednesday’s game (local stations, 8.45pm) could have been written by the Special One himself.
John Toshack, whose team's goals-in-a-season record was smashed by Mourinho’s Real at the weekend, was a Liverpool player under Paisley at the time. Like Paisley, Mourinho is noted for a controversial soundbite. After defeating Borussia Mönchengladbach in the 1977 final in Rome, in which the current Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes played, Paisley quipped: “This is the second time I’ve beaten the Germans here. The first was in 1944. I drove into Rome on a tank when the city was liberated.”
Furthermore, Mourinho’s second title came against Bayern in the Bernabéu two seasons ago. The Real coach’s first steps in management came in 2000, when he succeeded Heynckes at Benfica, albeit for what was a fleeting tenure. The veteran coach had moved to the Portuguese side from Real Madrid, which sacked him despite a first European triumph in 32 years.
It’s unlikely Real will sack Mourinho now, but whether he will choose to stay is a different matter
Mourinho is seeking the fabled décima, after a new decade-long continental drought. It’s unlikely Real will sack the man who appears to have orchestrated a first league title in four seasons, brought the King’s Cup back to the Bernabéu after almost 20 years and may yet deliver the Holy Grail; whether he will choose to stay is a different matter.
But before his thoughts can turn to a potential final against old club Chelsea or Barcelona, Mourinho must outfox the old master and overturn a 2-1 deficit from the first leg. Bayern’s desire for a European Cup win is almost as obsessive as Real’s — the Germans have not won since 2001. Although not historically imbued with the passion attributed to southern European teams, Bayern was pugnacious in the Allianz Arena and will come out swinging in the Bernabéu in search of a precious away goal.
Such was the burning thirst for victory in Munich that Franck Ribéry and Arjen Robben came to blows at half time in an argument over a free-kick. It is Mourinho’s task to pour water on this fire. If he succeeds and guides Real to a first final in 10 years, the Portuguese will be one game away from immortality.
