“I ran away – I went to the bus to say goodbye, and I did not even shake one hand,” Mourinho says.
“I needed to flee. I believe if I get on to the bus, if I am going again with them to Milan, if I stroll right into a full San Siro, if I stroll into the Duomo [Milan Cathedral] full of individuals, I believe I would not go to Actual Madrid.
“I believe the emotion would cease me to go.
“However I needed to go. I assumed it was the best second. I needed to escape.
“Marco was there. If as a substitute of Marco it was Dejan Stankovic, or Diego Milito or Julio Cesar, it might have been the identical story.”
In some ways the duality of that second defines Mourinho, and the query of how he received his two Champions League titles.
Making a fiercely loyal relationship together with his gamers off the pitch which ensured the facet that stepped on the sector could be comfy each operating by means of partitions, and with their backs to the wall.
Fifteen years later Mourinho might have mellowed barely. His man-management abilities and star high quality might have waned too.
However the ego, confidence and delight in his career-defining Champions League victories stays as sturdy as ever.
As Mourinho pointedly remarks, each his Porto and Inter triumphs haven’t been repeated.
“Why am I now right here talking with you?,” he says.
“It isn’t as a result of I’m now at Fenerbahce, or as a result of I received the Premier League with Chelsea.
“It’s as a result of I’m a double Champions League winner. That’s the reason.
“I believe there are different groups and golf equipment that if you do it, different guys [managers] then do it.
“I do that season. You do subsequent season. Three years later, one other will come after which folks might be even confused during which season you received it.
“You go to Actual Madrid, to Barcelona, to Manchester United, to those massive groups and possibly folks haven’t got the identical feeling.
“However you go to Porto and also you go to you go to Milan and all people is aware of.
“2004 Champions League winner, 2010 Champions League winner.
“Who was the coach? Mourinho.”
