As Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho prepares to return to Porto on Tuesday in the Champions League, the club where the Portuguese made his name all those years ago, Sport360 looks back at the 52-year-old’s most memorable moments at the Dragons during his two-year tenure in charge.
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Dragging FC Porto out of a tough period (January 2002)
Porto was the club to transform Mourinho. He arrived in January 2002 to replace Octavio Machado and at that time, Porto were in fifth, eliminated from the Portuguese Cup and bottom in their Champions League group. Mourinho guided them to third after a strong 15-game run and promised to “make Porto champions next year.”
UEFA Cup glory in Seville (2003)
The UEFA Cup brought together two of the most famous teams in Europe and two of its most exciting young coaches in Mourinho at Porto, and Celtic’s Martin O’Neill. It was Mourinho, though, who would come out on top, announcing himself to the rest of the continent with a dramatic 3-2 extra-time victory. He had made his mark.
Completing a remarkable treble (2003)
In his first full season, Mourinho took Porto to the title with nearly a month to spare, racking up 86 points – which remains a record total in Portugal. The year after his departure, Benfica won it with 65. The title was won with players like Ricardo Carvalho, Deco, Paolo Ferreira and Costinha. Cup success and European glory followed.
The second title not quite as emphatic (2004)
Mourinho’s second title win in Portugal wasn’t quite as absolute as the first, but his team still went unbeaten until April, all the while coping with the considerable distraction of Europe. They also finished with a perfect home record, part of what would be Mourinho’s remarkable run of not losing in league play at home in nine years and 151 games.
The improbable made possible (2004)
Eleven years have passed since arguably his greatest achievement. Porto shocked Europe by following up their UEFA Cup success by winning ‘Ol Big Ears’. Having eliminated Man United, Lyon and Deportivo La Coruna en route to the final, the Portuguese side secured a convincing 3-0 win against Monaco to lift the trophy in Gelsenkirchen.
