What Inter Milan did in Barcelona goes even further than football, proclaims Jose Mourinho

While Mourinho will be remembered for his spells at Porto, Chelsea, and Real Madrid, many believe that it was his tenure with Inter Milan that established his legacy as one of the best managers that football has ever produced. The 57-year-old won five trophies with the Nerazzurri including their first ever treble when he won the Serie A, Italian Cup and Champions League which truly established his legacy as a manager.

One of the standout and most remembered games is their two-legged clash against Barcelona with the second leg still thought of as the greatest defensive performance by a football club. The Nerazzurri went down to ten men thirty minutes into the game and were forced to play against one of the greatest teams in history a man down. But their performance has been called one of the best ever and Mourinho admitted that what his side did that night goes beyond football.

“What they did in Barcelona, playing with 10 players for more than an hour. That goes further than tactics, further than the defensive organisation. That goes much more deep than that. It goes further than football. It goes to the human side of it. I didn’t even feel it. The game finished, everybody reacted in different ways. We had people crying. We had people on their knees. We had people completely exhausted on the floor,” he told the Athletic.

“We had people running around and I ran to our supporters because I know how much it meant to them. “Then, when we were enjoying (ourselves), they (Barcelona) didn’t react in the best way which doesn’t reflect the dimension of the club, a club where I was so happy in the period I worked there, a club that I know is a super-class club. But sometimes when we are disappointed we can have these emotional reactions. It’s no problem at all, though, just a nice memory.”