AS Roma football manager, Jose Mourinho is the first coach in the history of football to reach the final of the UEFA Champions League, Europa League, and the Europa Conference League.
Jose Mourinho in UEFA Champions League
Recall that Jose Mourinho first reached the final of the UEFA Champions League in the 2003-2004 season. During the aforementioned season, the 59-year-old Portuguese coach led FC Porto to the final of the tournament for the first time in his managerial career and for the first time in the history of the club.
Mourinho guided Porto to the Arena Auf Schalke in Gelsenkirchen, Germany where they faced French side Monaco in the final of the Champions League. Porto stunned the football world by beating Monaco 3-0 to win Portugal’s first UEFA Champions League title since 1987.
After helping Porto to win the Champions League, Mourinho went on to help Inter Milan to win the UEFA Champions League in the 2009-2010 season.
Mourinho in UEFA Europa League
After coaching Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, and then a second spell at Chelsea, Manchester United decided to appoint Jose Mourinho as the coach of the club in 2016.
In the 2016-2017 season, Jose Mourinho led Manchester United to his first Europa League final. It was also the first time in the history of United that the club got to the final of the tournament.
On 24 May 2017, Mourinho led Manchester United to Friends Arena in Solna, Stockholm, Sweden to face Ajax in the final of the tournament. United beat Ajax 2-0 to win the title.
To date, the Europa League title Manchester United won in 2017 is the last major title in the club’s trophy cabinet. It is also the last time Jose Mourinho won a major title as a manager.
Jose Mourinho in UEFA Europa Conference League
When Jose Mourinho decided to coach Roma in 2021, most of his fans were stunned that he agreed to take the job because the club has not been a top club in recent years.
Since he became the coach of the club, he has been able to revitalize it and almost made the club an Italian Serie A title contender. The club is currently sitting on the 5th spot on the league table with 59 points in 35 games.
Aside from the league, the club is involved in UEFA Europa Conference League. The 2021-2022 season is the first edition of the tournament.
On Thursday, May 5, 2022, Jose Mourinho led Roma to beat Leicester City 1-0 in the second leg of the semi-final stage of the Conference League. Roma made it to the final 2-1 on aggregate.
After the game, Jose Mourinho was seen crying. When asked during the post-match press conference why he was crying, he said he was feeling for the people of the club.
José Mourinho in tears after reaching the Conference final. Might not be the biggest final in his career, but man does this show how much he loves the game. Imagine not loving this man. pic.twitter.com/ZNXoAGqzOq
— Xav Salazar (@XavsFutbol) May 5, 2022
“I am very emotional”, Jose Mourinho said. “This for us is our Champions League.
“When you work in Rome, live in Rome, and breathe Rome, you breathe this club because it is the real club of the city.
“I felt from day one it is huge, but no victories and not many finals. The history is not related to the social dimension of the club.
“We managed to build an OK team that grew step by step so we could beat a Premier League [team]. Of course, I have had bigger moments than this but I am not feeling for myself, I am feeling for the people and my players.”
Jose mourinho got so excited in his press conference after the win yesterday that he started speaking a different language to answer an English journalist and he didn't even realize 💀 pic.twitter.com/ImzbAPfWbC
— J (@MourinhoPics) May 6, 2022
The 2021-2022 Europa Conference League final
On May 25, 2022, Jose Mourinho will lead Roma to the Air Albania Stadium in Tirana, Albania for the first final of the UEFA Conference League. The final will kick off at 20:00.
The Italian club will face German side Feyenoord in the final of the tournament. Feyenoord got to the final after defeating French side Marseille 2-3 on aggregate.
If Roma win the Conference League, the club will be the first club to win the tournament. It will also be the first time since 1972 that the club won a European title. The two European titles the club won are defunct.
On the other hand, if Jose Mourinho succeeds in guiding Roma to win the Europa Conference League, he will become the first football manager to win the title. He will also become the first football manager in the history of football to win the Champions League, the Europa League, and the Europa Conference League.
Note that Jose Mourinho is also the first football manager to reach the final of a major European competition with four different clubs, having done so with Porto (UEFA Cup and Champions League), Inter Milan (Champions League), Manchester United (Europa League) and now Roma (Europa Conference League).
