Some opinions say that Jose Mourinho's tactics and style are outdated compared to modern football. But worthy of the name "Special One", Mourinho continues to reap success at the highest level.
He and AS Roma have reached the 2022-2023 Europa League final and have the opportunity to continue writing proud pages for this team.
In the past, Mourinho has reached the finals of European tournaments 5 times, and won all 5.
Porto 3-2 Celtic (UEfa Cup 2003)
Mourinho's first European title came after a thrilling chase. Porto took a lead over Celtic twice in the 2003 UEFA Cup final.
The only two players who were not Portuguese in the starting lineup chosen by Mourinho, Derlei and Dmitri Alenichev, scored to help Porto lead 1-0 and 2-1 respectively. But they were held to a draw twice by Erik Erikson's excellent header.
Larson remains the only player to score against the Mourinho side in the European Cup final.
The match had to go into extra time, then Derlei scored the winning goal for Porto with 5 minutes left.
Monaco 0-3 Porto (Champions League Final 2004)
The victory over Man United in the round of 16 motivated Porto to reach the second final of the C1 Cup/Champions League.
Monaco surprised everyone by reaching the final that year, much less than Mourinho's brave Porto.
They submerged the French team after Carlos Alberto opened the scoring in the first half, along with the brilliance of Deco and Dmitri Alenichev in the second half.
Bayern Munich 0-2 Inter (Champions League Final 2010)
Inter won the semi-final against Pep Guardiola's Barcelona with Mourinho's reasonable defensive strategy.
Inter's historic treble was very important because it came at a time when tiki-taka was dominating. Mourinho's Nerazzurri can be considered a counter-effect of the famous ball control style from Spain.
In the final, Diego Milito - who contributed greatly to Inter's Scudetto and Coppa Italia championship, scored a double at the Bernabeu to defeat Louis van Gaal's Bayern.
However, this victory for Mourinho was a mixed feeling of sadness and joy as it was his last time leading Inter.
Ajax 0-2 Man United ( Commissioner of Europa League 2017)
Man United have declined a lot since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, but Mourinho was the one who brought them back to the peak of their glory, even for a moment.
His time at Old Trafford was quite successful with a double Carabao Cup and Europa League titles in his first season.
Mourinho and Man United easily won 2-0 against Ajax in Stockholm thanks to Pogba and Mkhitaryan.
Feyenoord 0-1 Roma ( Europa Conference League Final 2022)
At the time he took up the role at Roma in 2021, Mourinho was considered a coach who had passed his peak.
But with the smart use of players in hand, Mourinho helped Roma bring home their first title since 2008.
The Italian capital team beat Feyenoord in their first Europa Conference League final thanks to a goal from Nicolo Zaniolo, continuing Mourinho's perfect record in European finals.
Jose Mourinho's statistics in the European Cup final:
Number of matches: 5
Winning: 5
Losing: 0
Number of goals: 11
Number of goals conceded: 2
