Though Jose Mourinho’s career as a player wasn’t interesting, today, he is arguably one of the most successful and celebrated coaches in the history of football. He has coached some of the biggest teams in the best league in Europe with illustrious achievements.
However, in this post, you will learn about the teams Mourinho has coached which include his current team. And also, I will share the successes and failures of his managerial career in each team.
Jose Mourinho Teams Coached
- Benfica
- União de Leiria
- Porto
- Chelsea
- Inter Millan
- Real Madrid
- Chelsea
- Manchester United
- Tottenham Hotspur
- Roma
Let’s begin.
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1. S.L. Benfica
In September 2000, Mourinho was allowed to manage at the highest level when he was promoted from his position as Benfica’s assistant manager to take over as Benfica manager four weeks after the Primeira Liga kicked off.
After he was confirmed as Benfica’s new head coach, he appointed former Benfica defender, Carlos Mozer as his assistant though the board wanted Jesualdo Ferreira as the new assistant manager, Mourinho insisted. Ferreira, who Mourinho had first met when he was his teacher at ISEF, received harsh criticism from the veteran coach.
Mourinho later mocked Ferreira by saying, “This could be the story of a donkey who worked for 30 years but never became a horse.”
However, Mourinho’s mentor, Sir Bobby Robson, offered him the assistant management position at Newcastle United just a few weeks after he accepted the position at Benfica.
Robson volunteered to allow Mourinho to take control of the team after two years in Newcastle because he was so desperate for Mourinho to join him. Mourinho declined the offer and said; Robson would never leave the team he loved.
Furthermore, In December, Mourinho and his assistant, Mozar defeated their rival Sporting CP 3-0, which many think their regime could be a new era for the team.
However, their era appeared to be in jeopardy after Joao Vale Azevedo lost the Benfica election and the newly elected Manuel Vilarinho declared that he would appoint Toni, a former player of Benfica, as his new coach.
Despite Vilarinhos intentions to not quickly fire him, Mourinho utilized the win over Sporting to put the president to the test and requested a contract extension. Due to his intention, Vilarinho declined the request, and Mourinho suddenly quit his job.
Unfortunately, Jose lasted just nine league games as manager of Benfica before leaving the club on December 5th, 2000.
2. União de Leiria
In July 2001, União de Leiria appointed José Mourinho as their new head coach. When Mourinho was a student at Uniao de Leiria, the team was on a roll, competing for third and fourth place.
His time in Uniao was like the one that was made in heaven as he recorded eight league games (six victories, two draws) without losing after a 1-1 draw with Santa Clara on January 20, 2002.
Mourinho’s team was fourth in the league standings with one point ahead of Porto, one point behind Benfica, and six points behind the league leader. However, Mourinho’s accomplishments at Leiria were noted, and he was a hot cake for the bigger Portuguese clubs.
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3. Porto
On January 23, 2002, Mourinho was chosen specifically by Porto to take Octávio Machado’s position as the new head coach.
Then, Porto had been eliminated from the Taça de Portugal, was in last place in its UEFA Champions League second group stage, and was in fifth place in the Liga (behind Sporting CP, Boavista, União de Leiria, and Benfica).
After a successful 15-game run (which included 11 victories), Mourinho led the team to third place that year and pledged to “make Porto champions next year.” And that’s how Jose gradually became a special one.
He was so proactive in his decision-making, and he soon named a few standout players who he felt would form the core of the ideal Porto team: Vtor Baa, Ricardo Carvalho, Costinha, Deco, Dmitri Alenichev, and Hélder Postiga.
Also, Jorge Costa, the team’s captain, was brought back following a six-month loan at Charlton Athletic.
Nuno Valente and Derlei from Uniao de Leiria, Paulo Ferreira from Vitória de Setúbal, Pedro Emanuel from Boavista, as well as Edgaras Jankauskas and Maniche, who were both out of contract at Benfica, were among the players who were signed from other clubs.
Mourinho won the Primeira Liga for the first time in 2003 with a 27-5-2 record, 11 points ahead of Benfica, the team he left two years prior.
A Portuguese record of 86 points out of a possible 102 was held up until Benfica’s 88-point victory in the 2015–16 campaign, the first year the three-points-for-a-win rule had been in place. In May 2003, Mourinho also defeated his former team Leiria to win the Taça de Portugal, as well as the UEFA Cup final against Celtic.
In the succeeding campaign, he guided Porto to triumph over Leiria in a single Portuguese Super Cup match, winning 1-0. However, Milan defeated them 1-0 in the UEFA Super Cup, with Andriy Shevchenko scoring the lone goal.
Well, Mou’s team dominated the Primeira Liga and won the championship five weeks before the regular season ended with a perfect home record, an eight-point lead, and a 27-match unbeaten streak that spanned from the start of the season until early April when they lost to Gil Vicente.
Benfica defeated Porto in the 2004 Taça de Portugal Final in May, but two weeks later, Mourinho defeated Monaco 3-0 to win the UEFA Champions League.
Sir Alex Ferguson, the former manager of Manchester United, challenged Mourinho during the first leg of the match between Porto and Manchester United after Roy Keane was sent off for stamping on Vtor Baa.
Porto was on the verge of suffering an away-goals defeat in the second leg at Old Trafford when Costinha scored the game-winning goal in the 89th minute. This dramatic celebration is regarded as the point at which Mourinho introduced himself to the game.
Mourinho flamboyantly celebrated the goal by sprinting down the sideline toward his celebrating players while punching the air as he left the dugout.
The victory Mourinho had over Ferguson’s United when playing for Porto was a precursor of his management of Chelsea in the Premier League, where he would work with Ferguson on a competitive but respectful basis.
Ferguson had his players form a guard of honor at Chelsea’s subsequent match at Old Trafford in 2005 after Chelsea won the Premier League title. Mourinho returned the favor in 2007 at Stamford Bridge after Ferguson’s team was crowned league champions.
3. Chelsea
Mourinho became the first Portuguese manager in the Premier League when he signed a three-year contract with Chelsea on June 2, 2004, following an agreement with Porto for a £1.7 million compensation payment. However, Chelsea improved on the potential it had last season under Mourinho.
They were in first place in the Premier League standings and had advanced to the Champions League knockout rounds by the beginning of December.
Fortunately, the game against Liverpool in the league Cup in Cardiff where he scaled through with a 3-2 (AET) win gave him his first trophy.
After the game, Mourinho was removed from the sidelines after putting his finger to his mouth in the direction of Liverpool supporters in response to chants hurled at him while Liverpool was ahead before the equalizing goal.
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Chelsea faced Barcelona in the round of 16 of the Champions League, a fiercely competitive match in which the Blues were defeated by a score of 2-1 but scaled through at home by a score of 4-2.
Mourinho, who was not allowed to enter the stadium during the quarterfinal encounter against Bayern Munich, stayed in the locker room before the game to speak with his players before hiding in a laundry basket to depart.
Unfortunately, he lost the chance to win the Champions League twice when Chelsea was eliminated from the competition by a contentious goal scored by eventual champions Liverpool in the semifinals.
However, Chelsea won their first top-flight domestic championship under Mourinho, setting several milestones in English football along the way, including the most wins in a season.
Down to the 2007-2008 season, On September 20, 2007, Mourinho left Chelsea “by mutual consent,” after several conflicts with owner Abramovich.
Following an urgent board meeting, Chelsea’s owners decided it was time to part ways with their manager. With six trophies for the team in three years, Mourinho left as Chelsea’s most successful manager in the club’s history.
He also went unbeaten in every league game played at home. After Mourinho left Chelsea, Avram Grant took over as manager. However, he failed to win any trophies during his first season in charge and was fired after the 2007–08 campaign.
4. Inter Milan
Jose Mourinho replaced Roberto Mancini to become Inter Millan head coach On June 2, 2008, after he signed a three-year contract. As his assistant, he selected Giuseppe Baresi, a former Inter player and the previous head coach of their development academy.
In the transfer window, he added three new players to the squad in the likes of Brazilian winger Mancini (€13 million), and Sulley Muntari, a midfielder from Ghana, who is reported to have cost €14 million.
Mourinho finished first in Serie A and won the Supercoppa Italiana in his first season as Inter’s head coach by defeating Roma on penalties.
Inter, on the other hand, lost to Sampdoria in the Coppa Italia semi-finals, 3-1 on aggregate, and was eliminated from the Champions League by Manchester United in the first knockout round.
Mourinho regularly used 18-year-old Italian forward Mario Balotelli and also promoted academy defender Davide Santon to the first team permanently, bringing an Italian contingent into a team that had previously been dominated by players from other countries.
This occurred as UEFA was beginning to pressure the bigger clubs in top leagues to play more homegrown players. Inter came close to winning the Serie A championship on May 2 after defeating Lazio 2-0 in Rome.
Mou’s team defeated Roma 1-0 to win the Coppa Italia on May 5, and Inter defeated Siena 1-0 on May 16 to win the domestic double, completing the feat of winning every trophy a manager could win in the Serie A.
Inter became the first Italian club to complete the treble on May 22, 2010, when they defeated Bayern Munich 2-0 to win the 2010 Champions League.
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5. Real Madrid
It was announced on May 28, 2010, that Mourinho would succeed Manuel Pellegrini as the head coach of Real Madrid. After agreeing to a four-year contract, Mourinho was introduced as Real Madrid’s new manager on May 31, 2010, becoming the club’s 11th manager in the preceding seven years.
Mourinho was named first-team coach and sporting manager, and he was referred to as a Galáctico (a term more often used for star players instead of coaches).
In Mourinho’s debut La Liga match as manager, Real Madrid, and Mallorca drew 0-0 on August 29, 2010, in Mallorca.
Mourinho responded, “One day some poor adversary is going to pay for the chances we’ve missed today,” when questioned about all the missed opportunities against Levante in La Liga and Auxerre in the Champions League.
The following game at the Bernabéu saw Real Madrid defeat Deportivo de La Coruña 6-1. The victories over Racing Santander (6-1) and Málaga (4-1) in the subsequent league games supported Mourinho’s assertion. Mourinho’s Madrid lost to Barcelona in his first Clásico matchup on November 29, 2010.
The game, which was played in Camp Nou, was won 5-0 by the hosts, and Real Madrid director Florentino Pérez referred to it as the worst match in the club’s history.
Real Madrid finally ended its 18-year Copa del Rey drought on April 20, 2011, when they defeated Barcelona 1-0 in the Copa del Rey final at Valencia’s Mestalla Stadium, giving Mourinho his first trophy in Spanish football.
Additionally, it was Real’s first trophy since winning La Liga in 2007-08. One week later, the two teams met once more in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals.
Real Madrid had not advanced this far in the competition since the 2003 semifinals after being eliminated in the 2004 quarter-finals. From 2005 to 2010, the club suffered six consecutive round-of-16 exits.
Mourinho extended his Real Madrid management contract by four years on May 22, 2012, keeping him in place until 2016. Real Madrid won the return match 2-1 in Madrid after defeat in the first leg of the 2012 Supercopa de Espana 3-2 at Barcelona.
After an aggregate tie of 4-4, Real Madrid prevailed in the contest by the away goals rule. This meant that within two years, Mourinho had amassed every domestic trophy possible for a manager at the top level of Spain.
He made history by becoming the first and only coach to take home four national super cups in Europe. Mourinho became the first coach in history to accomplish this feat by winning each domestic championship, cup, super cup, and league cup (if available) in all four European leagues.
However, Mourinho referred to the 2012–13 campaign as “the worst of my career” after Atlético Madrid defeated his team in the 2013 Copa del Rey final on May 17.
A year after agreeing to a contract extension, Mourinho revealed he would depart Real Madrid after the current campaign by “mutual agreement”.
6. Chelsea Return
Chelsea appointed Mourinho as manager for the second time on June 3, 2013, with a four-year deal. On August 18, 2013, Mourinho’s return to competitive management of Chelsea resulted in a 2-0 home victory over Hull City.
In his second appearance as manager in the UEFA Super Cup on August 30, Mourinho took against Bayern Munich, the reigning champions of the UEFA Champions League.
Despite having the advantage, Chelsea lost to Bayern on penalties after Romelu Lukaku saw Manuel Neuer of Bayern save his crucial kick. He added They grabbed the cup, and the best team lost, following the defeat to Bayern Munich under Pep Guardiola.
We played superbly even with ten men on the field. Pride is fine, but we failed, he said. The 2014–15 Premier League season for Chelsea began on August 18 at Turf Moor with a 3-1 victory against Burnley.
Diego Costa, Cesc Fàbregas, and Thibaut Courtois, who started in goal after a three-year loan at Atlético Madrid, all saw their first competitive action in this game. Didier Drogba returned to the Chelsea lineup and came off the bench during the second half.
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Chelsea’s chances of winning the quadruple were dashed on January 24, 2015, as they were unexpectedly defeated 2-4 by League One team Bradford City in the FA Cup’s fourth round. The loss was referred to as a “disgrace” by Mourinho.
However, Chelsea won the League Cup on March 1, 2015, defeating Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 to win their first championship of the year and Mourinho’s first championship with Chelsea.
Chelsea was eliminated from the UEFA Champions League round of 16 on March 11, 2015, after falling to Paris Saint-Germain by away goals. Chelsea defeated Crystal Palace on May 3, 2015, to win the Premier League title with three games remaining.
As a result of Chelsea losing just three games all year, Mourinho was voted Premier League Manager of the Season. Mourinho extended his four-year contract with Chelsea on August 7, 2015, which would have kept him at the club through 2019.
Mourinho played his 100th home Premier League game for Chelsea on August 29. The game ended in a 2-1 loss to Crystal Palace. Just 11 points were earned by Chelsea in their first 12 Premier League games of the year. On October 27, they were eliminated from the League Cup by Stoke City on penalties.
After losing 9 of their previous 16 Premier League games, Chelsea declared on December 17, 2015, that they had fired Mourinho “by mutual consent.
7. Manchester United
Mourinho signed a three-year deal with Manchester United on May 27, 2016, with an option to extend his contract to at least 2020. On August 7, 2016, Mourinho defeated defending Premier League champions Leicester City 2-1 to win his first trophy, the FA Community Shield.
On August 14, 2016, Mourinho led United to a 3-1 victory over AFC Bournemouth in his debut Premier League match. On September 11, 2016, Mourinho lost the Manchester derby for the first time as a manager, falling 2-1 to Manchester City.
This was also Mourinho’s eighth defeat of Pep Guardiola, his rival manager from his time at Real Madrid. Mourinho returned to Chelsea with Manchester United for the first time since departing in December 2015 on October 23, 2016.
They suffered a 4-0 loss in the game, dropping them six points off first place. On October 26, 2016, Mourinho defeated Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford in the EFL Cup to win his second Manchester derby as a manager.
In the 54th minute, Juan Mata scored the game’s lone goal, giving Mourinho his fourth win versus Guardiola (four victories, six). Manchester United defeated Ajax 2-0 to win the Europa League on May 24, 2017.
This was Mourinho’s second significant victory during his first campaign in charge of Manchester United. They also upheld his manager’s 100% record of success in winning each significant European Cup final.
Mourinho was fired by Manchester United on December 18th, 2018 after the team started the 2018–19 campaign with just seven victories in the first 17 Premier League games, putting Manchester United 19 points behind the league leaders.
8. Tottenham Hotspur
On November 20, 2019, Tottenham Hotspur appointed Jose Mourinho as Mauricio Pochettino’s successor as manager of Tottenham Hotspur with a four-year deal.
On November 23, 2019, Mourinho oversaw Tottenham Hotspur’s 3-2 victory at West Ham United in his first game with the club. Later, on November 26, 2019, he caught media attention when he said that ball boy Callum Hynes ‘aided’ Spurs’ second goal in a 4-2 Champions League victory against Olympiacos.
Tottenham Hotspur was eliminated 0-4 by RB Leipzig in the round of 16 of the Champions League after a defeat in both of their games. On June 23, 2020, Tottenham defeated West Ham United 2-0 to give Mourinho his 300th victory in English football.
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On July 15, 2020, Tottenham defeated Newcastle 3-1 at St James’ Park, giving him his first victory as a manager. But Mourinho finished sixth in the Premier League in his first year with Tottenham Hotspur.
Mourinho led Tottenham Hotspur to a 6-1 victory over his previous team Manchester United on October 4, 2020, at Old Trafford. Tottenham topped the Premier League after defeating Arsenal 2-0 on December 6, 2020, making Mourinho the second manager in club history to win the first two North London derbies.
They dropped to the second position, three points behind the lead, after a last-second 2-1 loss to Liverpool at Anfield.
However, days before the EFL Cup Final against Manchester City and after 17 months as manager of Tottenham Hotspur, Mourinho was fired by the club on April 19, 2021.
This was the first time since 2002 that Mourinho had left a club without a trophy. Ryan Mason, a former player for Tottenham Hotspur, took over as acting manager in his place.
9. Roma
Mourinho replaced Paulo Fonseca as Roma’s head coach on May 4, 2021. And won his first game as Roma’s manager on August 19, 2021, a 2-1 away victory over Trabzonspor in the first leg of the UEFA Europa Conference League play-off round.
He won at home against Fiorentina 3-1 three days later, marking his comeback to Serie A eleven years after he left Inter Millan.
Mourinho oversaw a 3-0 home victory against Trabzonspor in the play-off second leg on August 26 to clinch his team’s qualification for the Europa Conference League.
Mourinho defeated Sassuolo 2-1 on September 12, 2021, to win his 1,000th game as a manager. On 26 September against Lazio, Mourinho became the first Roma manager to lose his first Serie A Roma derby since Luis Enrique in 2011 after he lost 2-3 to Lazio.
On 21 October in a Conference League game against FK Bodø/Glimt, Roma suffered a humiliating 1–6 defeat, Mourinho blamed the defeat on ‘not having a very good squad’, it was the first time that one of Mourinho’s sides conceded 6 goals in one match.
Ten days later against Milan, Mourinho suffered his first home defeat in league games in Italy, before this match he was unbeaten in 43 matches in a row.
Roma lost 3-0 to Inter on December 4; this was the first time in Mourinho’s coaching career that one of his teams trailed 3-0 at the break.
Following the game, Mourinho claimed that Inter “are stronger than Roma in normal conditions, but in non-normal conditions, they are much stronger.” However, Mourinho defeated Lazio 3-0 to earn his first Derby della Capitale victory on March 20, 2022.
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Mourinho became the first manager to advance to the final of all three current major European competitions on May 5 by leading Roma to their first major European final since 1991 by defeating Leicester City 2-1 on aggregate in the Europa Conference League semi-finals.
He also became the first manager to advance to a major European final with four different clubs. In the 2022 UEFA Europa Conference League Final, Mourinho defeated Feyenoord on May 24 to win his first championship with Roma.
With Roma’s first trophy in 11 years, he opposed Giovanni Trapattoni and Udo Lattek as p only111ppp managers to have won all 1 major European trophy currently in existence.
He was also the first manager to complete the UEFA treble by winning the Champions League, UEFA Cup/Europa League, and Europa League.
In Summary
So far In his career, Jose Mourinho has been able to manage seven teams which include his current team, Roma. And in each of the teams, he has proved and laid a mark of what football fans could tag illustrious.
If you agree with me, he is truly the special one.
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