Jose Mourinho is one of the most decorated managers of all time. The 60-year-old has been in the managerial scene since the early 1990s when he took the role of assistant manager of CF Estrela Amadora SAD. The Portuguese spent the early 1990s in different roles, such as assistant manager, scout, and even translator.
These small roles in various Portuguese clubs provided him an opportunity to be a translator for Sir Bobby Robson in FC Barcelona. That role at the Spanish club opened doors for Mourinho to be the assistant manager of the Spanish club, under the successor of Bobby Robson.
Assistant Manager at FC Barcelona
Louis van Gaal was Robson’s successor at FC Barcelona, and Jose Mourinho’s relations with Robson helped him land the role of assistant manager at the Spanish club. Mourinho was the assistant manager for 170 games under Louis van Gaal, after helping Bobby Robson as assistant manager in 60 games.
Mourinho & Van Gaal.#FCBarcelona pic.twitter.com/RGduhN9H3r
— Barça Lovers (@barcalovers1992) December 15, 2022
With Louis van Gaal, Mourinho won two La Liga titles in the first two years. The Dutch manager even trusted Mourinho with the responsibilities of Barcelona B and let him act as the main manager in certain trophies like Copa Catalunya, which Mourinho won in 2000.
Stints with Portuguese teams – Benfica, Leiria and Porto
Mourinho moved on from FC Barcelona when Benfica came calling in 2000. He replaced Jupp Heynckes after the fourth week of the Primeira Liga.
However, his stint with the Portuguese club lasted only 10 games when Mourinho resigned after contract negotiations broke down with the club president, Manuel Vilarinho. Another short spell followed with Leiria, which ended after 19 games.
His successful short spell with Leiria attracted attention from FC Porto and Jose Mourinho jumped ship to join the side in January 2002.
The following spell announced the Portuguese manager to European soccer. He managed the club for two and half years, for 127 games, and landed them six trophies in the span. He won two Portuguese league titles with the club, as well as the UEFA Champions League in 2003/04.
Two stints with Chelsea in the Premier League
The successful spell with Porto attracted the attention of Chelsea as the Special One was brought in by Roman Abramovich to compete with Manchester United and Arsenal.
Mourinho did what was ordered as he landed six major trophies in his first spell at the London club. This included two Premier League titles and four cup titles including the FA Cup in 2006/07.
Mourinho’s First spell at Chelsea was truly remarkable!!
Games: 120
Wins: 85
Draws: 25
Defeats: 10
Win percentage: 71%
Goals Scored: 215
Goals Conceded: 67
Points Gained: 280/360Back to Back Premier League Titles🏆🏆
Two League Cups 🏆🏆
One FA Cup 🏆pic.twitter.com/AUxIPitLLm— Nouman (@nomifooty) July 18, 2020
The Portuguese returned to the London club in 2013 for his second spell and managed the club for another 136 matches. His second spell wasn’t as successful as his first but he still helped the London club to win the 2014/15 Premier League title and another English League cup.
Jose Mourinho with Inter Milan
After his first successful stint with Chelsea, Mourinho moved to Inter Milan after FC Barcelona ignored him to appoint Pep Guardiola in 2008. The Portuguese manager again proved his worth in two years at Inter Milan. He managed the side for 108 games and landed five major trophies with the club.
José Mourinho explaining how he set up his Inter Milan side tatically to stop Pep’s Barcelona and Messi at their best. [A thread]pic.twitter.com/WcvcmaHGr7
— IM🇵🇹 (@Iconic_Mourinho) November 12, 2022
Mourinho won two Serie A titles with Inter Milan, One Italian Super Cup, and One Italian Cup, and in his final game with the club, led them to the UEFA Champions League title in 2009/10. The Portuguese decided to leave the club after two successful seasons when a chance to return to Spain presented itself.
Jose Mourinho with Real Madrid
Mourinho returned to Spain with Real Madrid, the biggest rival of his first Spanish club, FC Barcelona. The appointment put him against Pep Guardiola at FC Barcelona, what followed was one of the most heated few years between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona.
With us against the world mentality, Jose Mourinho led Real Madrid to a hard-fought Spanish title in 2011/12. He managed Real Madrid for three seasons and went toe-to-toe against arguably the best FC Barcelona side of all time. During this period, Mourinho only won two titles at the club.
Jose Mourinho with Manchester United
After Real Madrid, Jose Mourinho returned to the Premier League with a second spell with Chelsea. After his second spell with Chelsea, he moved to Manchester United in 2016 for a two-and-a-half-year spell with the club.
The spell with the Reds was full of ups and downs for Mourinho, who failed to take Manchester United back to its previous glory. However, he did help them win the Europa League title and English League title in 2016/17 before he was sacked in December 2018.
Jose Mourinho with Tottenham Hotspur
After Manchester United, Tottenham appointed Mourinho in November 2019. The Portuguese manager only managed the side for 86 games, in which he won 45 games, scoring 173 goals and conceding 110 goals. The appointment of Mourinho wasn’t enough for North London to end its trophy drought.
José Mourinho has lost more games with Spurs than at Porto, Inter, Real Madrid & his first spell at Chelsea.
◎ Porto: 127 games, 15 defeats
◎ Chelsea I: 185 games, 21 defeats
◎ Inter: 108 games, 15 defeats
◎ Real Madrid: 178 games, 22 defeats
◉ Spurs: 86 games, 23 defeats pic.twitter.com/gZgiaDNvWD— Squawka (@Squawka) April 19, 2021
Mourinho’s on-field performances were overshadowed by internal controversies, fully documented by the Amazon documentary of Tottenham. The unsuccessful London club started some murmurs that Mourinho’s day as a top-level manager was towards its end.
Jose Mourinho with AS Roma
AS Roma followed after Tottenham. The appointment in 2021 marked a return to Serie A for Jose Mourinho. He returned with a chip on his shoulder to perform at the top level to silence his critics. The first two seasons went a long way in favor of Mourinho with impressive back-to-back top-six finishes for AS Roma in Serie A.
The impressive improvement in Serie A also came on top of back-to-back European finals. Mourinho won the UEFA Conference league in the first season and reached the final of the Europa League in 2022/23 only to be beaten by Sevilla.
The third-season syndrome of Mourinho is in full flow in AS Roma as the Portuguese manager was off to his worst-ever start at any club in the current season. However, Roma is slowly crawling back to winning ways in the league with three back-to-back victories.
At present, Mourinho has managed 1,115 matches in his career with 695 wins in his career and has scored more than 2100 goals with his teams. He has won 27 major titles with different European clubs to cement his legacy as one of the greatest managers of the 21st century.