Why Mourinho remains an expert on winning European finals…

Jose Mourinho’s supporters tried to kill time starting from the 80 minuta minute, a practice which proved effective with the yellow-reds exploding in delirium at the moment of the final whistle from the main Istvan Kovacs. Roma came out victorious in the third most important competition in Europe, because they understood quite well that they were in a continental final, a much more important achievement than that of some of their rivals in Serie A.

The success against Feyenoord justifies Mourinho’s efforts to dedicate himself to the Conference League to the maximum, thus becoming the first coach to win three active European competitions. More than that, the Portuguese has won all five European finals he has played, above all his finalist teams have not conceded a goal in four of the finals, while the only time Mourinho has won a European trophy with conceded goals has been UEFA Cup in 2003, which closed in Porto 3-2 in favor of Celtic.

List of Jose Mourinho’s European finals:
2002-03: UEFA Cup – Porto 3-2 Celtic
2003-04: Champions League – Porto 3-0 Monaco
2009-10: Champions League – Inter Milan 2-0 Bayern Munich
2016-17: Europa League – Manchester United 2-0 Ajax
2021-22: Europa Conference League – Roma 1-0 Feyenoord

“José Mourinho non è cambiato”, was the refrain of Roma fans after the match against Feyenoord. The Conference League is the 26th trophy in Jose Mourinho’s managerial career.

The most logical reason for Jose Mourinho’s efficiency in the final is closely related to the words of author Diego Torres in his biographical book about the Portuguese, ‘The Special One’: The Dark Side of Jose Mourinho. According to Torres, Mourinho prepares decisive matches with a plan that is formed by six points:

1. The match is won by the team that makes the fewest mistakes
2. In transfer matches, instead of trying to be superior to your opponent, you should encourage them to make mistakes
3. Whichever team has the ball in possession is more likely to make a mistake
4. Whichever team holds the ball less, reduces the chances of mistakes
5. Whoever holds the ball in possession has more fear
6. Whoever defends himself for a longer time interval, becomes stronger

Roma started the 2021-22 edition with aspirations to qualify for the Champions League and closed it in 6th place, a position higher than in the 2020-21 season. It’s hard to win a championship and compete at high levels for nine months waiting to take advantage of opponents’s mistakes.

In a final challenge, where 90 minutes determine everything, Mourinho’s methods never fail. Feyenoord prepared the Conference League final with the sole purpose of winning it. Rome traveled to Tirana, knowing full well that they must first avoid defeat.

A simple illustration of Mourinho preparing for the final matches through statistics:
– In the UEFA Cup final in 2003, Porto had 56% of possession and conceded two goals from Celtic.
– In the Champions League final against Monaco a year later, ball holding in the final was reduced to 45% and the Portuguese won 3-0.
– In 2010, Jose Mourinho’s Inter owned the ball with only 32% against Bayern, but still managed to win by two goals.
– A similar story was repeated with Manchester United and Roma, in both cases the Portuguese coach’s teams held possession of only 33% of the ball, certainly triumphing, even keeping the gate intact.

Roma triumphed on Wednesday as they allowed Feyenoord to control the ball in the less dangerous areas of the pitch and then defended solidly in cases where the Dutch entered the final 30 meters of the pitch. The Yellows interpreted the match in a similar way to Manchester United in the Europa League final in 2017. In both matches, Mourinho was placed in front of opponents from the Netherlands. In both cases, Mourinho’s teams had the advantage in physical terms.

It is a way of playing that is often seen in international football. Didier Deschamp’s France provided some charm with a star-studded squad that managed to win the 2018 World Cup. Fernanado Santos’s Portugal defeated host France in the 2016 European Championship final by applying a similar method.

Before England advanced to the Euro 2020 final, coach Gareth Southgate studied how the national team won major tournaments and tried to install such pragmatism in the Three Lions national team, a cynicism that was demonstrated in both English meetings against Germany and Denmark (2-0; 2-1) where they triumphed without donating much spectacle.

The finals belong to a higher degree of difficulty. They are a strange combination between what happens on the field, in the psychology of players and coaches and in high physical fatigue. Mourinho succeeds in the final because he always chooses to do the above aspects in the simplest way.

Jose Mourinho could be clearly seen asking his players to calm down after the goal scored by Zaniolo, only to burst into tears at the last signal.

The 58-year-old coach knew quite well the right moment to focus on the technical side during a final and when he had to give in to emotions.
In his post-match interview, Mourinho demonstrated his inexhaustible talent for awakening the spirit of non-favorites on his teams.

“The biggest thing about my career is that in addition to winning the Europa League with Manchester United, the successes with Porto, Inter and Roma have been really special,” said Mourinho.

“It is one thing to win when everyone expects it, when you have made investments to succeed, but it is completely different to win when the trophy turns into an unforgettable and eternal thing. This is really special. It will remain in the history of Rome, but also in my history. I was told that only I, Sir Alex Ferguson and Giovanni Trapattoni have won trophies in three different decades. “I think I am old, but it is positive for my career”, said the Portuguese.

Mourinho’s managerial career is very different from what it was in 2012, but what remains is his talent for winning European finals…

Source: The Athletic
Adapted by: Alban Aga / SUPER SPORT

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