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Jose Mourinho says Champions League win with Inter is his best memory
Manchester United might not be part of this year's competition, but Jose Mourinho spoke to the Daily Mail about some of his favorite ever Champions League memories. He's won the trophy twice, once with Porto in 2004, but his most treasured memory? In 2010, with Inter Milan.
"My best memory? The victory with Inter, that final [against Bayern Munich]. With Porto it was a team of young people, a team of people with many years in front of them.
“If I didn't win that year then we probably would not have left. After that victory I was leaving — everybody was leaving — but if we did not win that Champions League we would have stayed at Porto a couple more years.
“And we would have then won it because we were a very good young team.
“Inter was an old team, a team of people who wanted to do it for their whole career. There had been frustration after frustration.
“That final was the last chance for [Marco] Materazzi, [Francesco] Toldo, [Javier] Zanetti, [Ivan] Cordoba, [Esteban] Cambiasso. It was an old team. It was now or never. That really was a crazy journey.
“Everything put things into context. It was a dream that everyone was chasing. Probably not me because I won it before. But for all of them... it was a last chance to reach their dream.
“It was just the end of a generation. I think the club would chase and chase and chase until they got it because it was everyone's dream. But for this group that was it.”
Nobody represented that generation and that wait more than captain Javier Zanetti. He had been at Inter Milan for 15 years before their win, and the Champions League Final against Bayern Munich marked his 700th match for the club. All of that, and many trophies, without being crowned champion of Europe. So it's no surprised that Zanetti named Mourinho, the man who got him that elusive title, his favorite ever manager.
“Mourinho was a winner who took care of every detail and his two years will remain in the hearts of all Inter fans ... when I carried the Champions League trophy and put it next to my locker, I spoke to it. I told the trophy that I’d been chasing it for a long time and finally it was in my arms.”
Mourinho won't be able to make any memories in the competition this year, but it's interesting to hear his thoughts on why the Inter win was his favorite.
Also: "It was a dream that everyone was chasing. Probably not me because I won it before" is an ALL TIME great line. It's one of those quietly unabashedly arrogant statements that doesn't quite resonate in the beginning, but makes you chuckle to yourself at the pure audacity of it.
Never change, Mourinho.
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