José Mourinho will return to the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza against Inter for the first time tonight, so Football Italia takes a look at the best and most controversial moments of the Special One at San Siro.
Mourinho spent two seasons at Inter, winning five trophies, including a legendary treble in 2009-10. He left Inter after the Champions League Final in 2010 and Massimo Moratti has revealed the truth about the Special One’s move to the Spanish capital in an interview with Il Corriere dello Sport today.
Fans are preparing to welcome their former coach at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza tonight, remembering the legendary moments of the Portuguese coach in the Nerazzurri dug-out. We have selected three of them ahead of tonight’s clash.
Moratti predicts emotional Mourinho return to San Siro, reveals truth about Inter exit
Inter comeback against Roma
March 2009. The Nerazzurri went two goals down twice against the Giallorossi, who were their main Scudetto contenders at that time, but managed to rescue a point also thanks to a controversial penalty kick given to Inter. Mourinho stepped into the debate a few days later, talking about ‘intellectual prostitution.’
“There has been the greatest amount of intellectual manipulation,” Mourinho claimed. “There was a concerted, organised effort to manipulate public opinion. It was fantastic work but it is unrelated to my world – I work in football.
“I don’t like intellectual prostitution, I like honesty,” he continued. “Over the last few days nobody has mentioned that Roma have great players but will end the season without a title. Nobody has mentioned that Milan have 11 fewer points than us and will end the season without a title. Nobody has spoken about Juventus, who have won so many points thanks to refereeing mistakes. We have only won one game thanks to a mistake and that was the Siena match.”
Handcuffs gesture
In February 2010, the Nerazzurri picked up a 0-0 draw against Sampdoria at San Siro after being reduced to nine men, following red cards to Walter Samuel and Ivan Ramiro Cordoba in the space of eight minutes.
Despite being down to nine men, the Nerazzurri came close to winning the game and saw their penalty appeals for a foul on Samuel Eto’o rejected. Mourinho was visibly unhappy and made a handcuffs gesture against referee Paolo Tagliavento, which cost him a three-match ban.
Victory against Barcelona
At the end of the same season, the Nerazzurri beat Barcelona in the Champions League semifinals, qualifying for the Final, where they had the better of Bayern Munich. They won the opening fixture 3-1 in Milan thanks to goals from Wesley Sneijder, Maicon and Diego Milito. The return clash in Barcelona ended with a 1-0 defeat for the Serie A giants. “The best one I’ve ever had,” said Mourinho. The rest is history.
Tagliaventus. Nothing new there.