Real Madrid can wait for now.
The Special One has something else to keep him occupied for the next 24 hours - something special enough to mention his favorite word four times in one sentence.
With speculation of his imminent move to Real Madrid running rampant, Inter Milan manager Jose Mourinho resisted attempts to crown him King Jose, insisting Friday that nothing else is on his mind for now besides Saturday's Champions League final with Bayern Munich.
"This story about Madrid isn't a problem for me," Mourinho said in a bravura performance before a packed press conference at the Bernabeu stadium - his likely future home. "Whoever plays the final of the Champions League can't think about anything else. It's too big to think about anything else and that's the truth. I'm thinking only about tomorrow."
Having won the Champions League with FC Porto in 2004 and two English Premier League titles with Chelsea, Mourinho is considered perhaps the best coach in football these days. Perhaps that's what prompted a Russian journalist to present Mourinho with a crown during the pre-game press conference.
Mourinho smiled at the gift, although he didn't put it on. "Maybe tomorrow," he said, likely foreseeing the media frenzy that would follow if he donned the crown before the match. In exchange for the crown, Mourinho took off his tracksuit top and gave it to the journalist.
Inter has not been the European champion since winning back-to-back titles in 1964 and 1965, when Angelo Moratti - the father of current Inter president Massimo Moratti - ran the club.
Mourinho understands the significance of the 45-year drought to Moratti and Inter's fans.
"It is different for the fans, because 40 years are 40 years - many of them weren't part of this world yet," Mourinho said. "Inter has a history of successes - but very long ago - so I can imagine that if we win it will be special for a special club, for a special president and special supporters."
Having already won Serie A and the Italian Cup this season, Inter can become the first Italian club to achieve a treble, and Mourinho is doing his best to keep his players focused.
"I'm thinking about a dream, not an obsession," he said. "I want my team to play for a dream, not an obsession. Then after the game everyone can move on with their lives, not just me. Some will go to the World Cup, some will go on vacation to the seaside, some will go to the mountains, some will stay and some will go. But tomorrow when the game ends I won't be able to say it's my last game with Inter."
Mourinho added that he would take "four or five days after the final to decide his future.
"But when the game ends tomorrow I won't be able to say," he said. "When I won with Porto I knew before that I would leave for Chelsea, but right now I can't say. ... I don't know Real Madrid. I don't know Real Madrid's ambitions or inner workings. I know only Real Madrid's history - and right now I'm not worried about knowing more."
While he has never been comfortable with Italian football, Mourinho does have a solid relationship with Inter, and there is one post-match image he's dreaming about.
"I would like to see Moratti cry with the cup in his hands tomorrow," Mourinho said. "I would like to see a photo like the one of his father with the cup at Appiano Gentile (Inter's training facility). It would be something incredible for the entire Moratti family and I would really, really like to offer my small contribution to make something fantastic happen for them."
