Revisiting All of Mourinho’s European Cup Final Wins Ahead of Sevilla Showdown

• Jose Mourinho reached the Europa League final at the expense of Bayer Leverkusen on Thursday, May 18
• The Portuguese coach will now come up against Sevilla in the final
• It is hard to predict the final as it is between a team with incredible success in the Europa League coming up against a manager that has never lost a European cup final

Jose Mourinho made it to the Europa League final in trademark fashion after a 0-0 draw against Bayer Leverkusen on Thursday provided him a chance for more glory in Europe.

Having led Roma to a maiden Europa Conference League success last season, Mourinho is now in his second European final in as many years as his renaissance continues.

Many people initially wrote off Mourinho after being sacked by Manchester United in 2018, but he continues to prove why he is the ‘Special One’ by coming up with the goods with a fairly limited Roma squad.

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What stands in Mourinho’s way of another continental trophy is Sevilla, who are the most successful Europa League club in the history of the second-tier competition.

After eliminating Leverkusen, Mourinho spoke to the media where he played down his legacy, saying his focus was to improve the Roma team.

“My concern isn’t marking my place in the Roma history books,” Mourinho said as per Football Italia. “It’s helping these kids to grow, to achieve important things.”

“It’s also helping the Roma fans who have given me so much since day one. It’s an immense joy to get to another final."

Mourinho’s flawless record in finals

Unlike his counterpart Pep Guardiola, who has had his fair share of heart break in finals, Mourinho is flawless when it comes to games that determine whether he will be crowned a champion.

As per Transfermkt, Mourinho has won two European trophies with FC Porto and one each with Inter Milan, Manchester United and Roma.

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Here is a breakdown of how he performed in each of his four previous European finals:

2003 Europa League final: Porto vs Celtic

This was a young Jose Mourinho’s first ever test in a European final, and he somehow guided FC Porto to a 3-2 win over the Scottish side.

Derlei gave Porto the lead, but Celtic found an equalizer through Henrik Larsson before Dmitri Alenichev put Porto ahead once again, with Larsson firing back to make it 2-2 in normal time.

Porto eventually found a winner through Derlei in extra time.

The triumph was a landmark as a baby-faced Mourinho announced himself to the football world as an upcoming top football manager.

2004 Champions League final: Porto vs Monaco

This was a game which put Mourinho fully on the map as he managed to guide a young Porto side to the most coveted trophy in European football.

After a superb run on route to the final, Porto showed why they deserved to be champions as goals from Carlos Alberto, Deco, and Alenichev helped clinch the title.

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It is also kind to note Porto eliminated the then favourites Manchester United on their way to the final.

2010 Champions League final: Inter vs Bayern Munich

After a six-year absence from European finals Mourinho was back with another underdog story as he guided Inter Milan, then a squad comprising of declining superstars, to the Champions League final where they came up against Bayern Munich.

Diego Milito was the star of the show as his brace helped Inter to a 2-0 win over Bayern as the Nerazzuri became the first Italian side to win the treble.

And again, in classic Mourinho fashion, Bayern enjoyed the lion’s share of possession but were twice hit on the counter as Inter made the most of their limited time on the ball.

2017 Europa League final: Manchester United vs Ajax

Mourinho’s time at Manchester United may have been torrid, but he can walk with his chest up high because he somehow managed to come away with a European trophy.

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For the 2016/17 season, the gaffer took the ultimate risk by investing all his team’s efforts in the Europa League as a bid to qualify for the Champions League since the club was having a poor season domestically.

En route to the final, United were inconsistent and were plagued by injuries; almost getting eliminated by Celta Vigo and Anderlecht in the knockout stages.

Coming up against a young Ajax side in the Europa League final, United enjoyed a mere 33 percent ball possession and somehow managed to score two goals from four shots on target.

2022 Europa Conference League final: Roma vs Feyenoord

Mourinho’s Roma became the first Italian side to win a European trophy since his own Inter team back in 2010 after they beat Feyenoord in the Europa Conference League final last year.

For this one, the tactician went back to basics as he defended in numbers, while trying to hit Arne Slot with the sucker punch.

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Roma took the lead through Nicolo Zaniolo in the 32nd minute and that proved enough to earn Mourinho a unique feat of becoming the first manager to win all three tiers of European club trophies.

Mourinho slammed for ugly tactics

Sports Brief also reported on criticism Mourinho received for his tactics against Bayer Leverkusen.

Roma frustrated Bayer Leverkusen in Germany to draw the second leg 0-0 and qualify on an aggregate score of 1-0.

At the Bay Arena on Thursday night, it was a vintage Mourinho performance. His side had zero shots on target as they defended resolutely for the entire 90 minutes.

There were also rampant cases of time-wasting, with the Roma players going down at intervals, much to the frustration of their opponents.