When talking about great coaches in the world of football Jose Mourinho’s name cannot be left out of the book. The Portuguese man has won himself all the club trophies any coach can ever wish to win in their career. Jose Mourinho was asked about his greatest moment and he gave a shocking reply to the question.
To the surprise of everybody went ahead to say his greatest moment is not in the several occasions when his teams have lifted the famous trophy. Not even the knee slide against Manchester United that marked his iconic arrival to the English Premier League competition in 2004.
Instead, Jose Mourinho said his greatest moment is a loss in the Champions League, he said the result in his defeat at the Inter Milan. The Champions League lost to Barcelona when he joined Inter Milan in 2010. The new Tottenham Hotspur head coach is known for so many things with dramas inclusive.
The magical thing about it is that after the lost at Nou Camp, he went back to give an impressive comeback in the return leg which is a sensational comeback. Given the quality of the opposition perhaps the greatest football team there has ever been and given the circumstances, it should be no surprise that Mourinho holds it so dear.
Inter Milan won on aggregate 3-2 in the 2010 Champions League semi-final and that remains a memorable event in his life. This was the game that has come to define him in the Champions League. Perhaps even the game that defines his managerial career.
In the first leg everyone can remembers Inter’s backs-to-the-wall effort at the Nou Camp, the stunning denouement to this particular tale, but every punchline needs a set up. Jose Mourinho and his players have been keen to stress ever since that this tie was won over two legs not one.
Inter Milan’s 3-1 victory over Barcelona in the San Siro on April 20, 2010 was the result that made it all possible. Commenting on this the captain of the team then Javier Zanetti said: “Please don’t forget the great attacking display from the first leg.”
Esteban Cambiasso also said emphatically that “Nobody can tell me that we played defensively in the first leg.” The victory on that night was epic for Jose Mourinho, he has a record of epic massive celebration which includes the knee slides but that come-back at San Siro was something else. For Mourinho, this triumph was personal.
