Jose Mourinho has claimed his success at Manchester United was not “special” and snubbed the club twice when listing off the clubs he feels an affiliation with.
Mourinho took the reins at Old Trafford in the summer of 2016 and won the Community Shield, EFL Cup and Europa League trophies in his first full season at the club. He went on to reach the FA Cup final and record a second-placed Premier League finish in his second campaign, before being sacked in December 2018.
Ahead of Wednesday’s night Europa League Conference final, in which Mourinho guided Roma to the inaugural competition with a triumph against Feyenoord, the Portuguese explained why he was a Chelsea fan rather than United when it came to English football.
Mourinho listed five clubs which he said he was now a supporter of after working as their manager, but he overlooked both United and Tottenham – whom he coached for 18 months in his first job after leaving Old Trafford - when selecting which clubs he favoured.
The Portuguese explained after Wednesday night’s success with Roma: “Of course I feel like a Romanista, but that might be my way of working. I am a Porto fan, an Inter fan, a Chelsea fan, I am crazy about Real Madrid, I am now a Roma fan, I belong to all those clubs because we had these moments together.”
Speaking specifically about his Conference League title, Mourinho then began talking about his previous achievements in European football. The Portuguese had guided four different clubs to five European trophies, including United’s Europa League trophy in 2017.
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However, the boss explained that the trophy with the Red Devils was not as “special” as those he achieved elsewhere. He added: “The great thing about my career is that, aside from the Europa League with Manchester United, doing it with Porto, Inter and Roma is very, very, very special.”
Mourinho’s first European trophy came with FC Porto with the UEFA Cup trophy in 2003, before guiding the club to a remarkable Champions League success the following campaign. He lifted the same competition with Inter in 2010 and that preceded his trophies with United and Roma.
Mourinho’s success with Roma this week was his first trophy since the Europa League success with United in 2017 – with his stint at Tottenham not yielding any trophies. This was an Italian side’s first European trophy since Mourinho’s Inter’s Champions League title in 2010 and somewhat masked the club’s underwhelming sixth-placed finish in Serie A.
