Mourinho recalls Porto Champions win: “It was like touching the sky” | OneFootball

José Mourinho revisited one of the most defining moments of his career and recalled the 2004 Champions League final, won by FC Porto, in an account that quickly took on exceptional proportions. Throughout the conversation, the coach highlighted the scale of that achievement, traced the challenges of a career built across several countries, and offered a glimpse into how he experiences the emotional intensity of football. Summing up what he felt in that greatest of moments, he said: “It was like touching the sky.”

There was memory, reflection and a rarely rehearsed frankness in José Mourinho’s answers, in a tone where the past did not appear as mere nostalgia, but as a reference point for what still sets some of the greatest achievements in European football apart. Between FC Porto’s historic night, the constant adaptation to new contexts and the emotional vertigo of the profession, the idea that stood out was that of a career shaped by demands and exceptionality.

Faced with memories of FC Porto’s 2004 Champions League final, Mourinho did not simply revisit the trophy: he preferred to emphasize the scale of what was achieved and the historical weight that time has since confirmed.

“The memory is that we did something incredible. The fact is that since then — from 2004 to 2026 — no Portuguese club has won it again, no Portuguese club has reached another final, not even a semi-final,” he said. “That gives you the dimension of what we did. It was like touching the sky.”

More than a simple recollection, the answer stands as a declaration of rarity. Mourinho sees that triumph as an almost unrepeatable high point, one of those moments when Portuguese football, for brief instants, seems to merge with the impossible made real.

The conversation then widened and moved onto the broader ground of a career spent across different leagues and cultures. In that context, Mourinho described adaptation as the real test of endurance, one that is not measured only within the four lines.

“In my case, adapting to a new country, a new culture, to everything that is new. Even to a new language, like in Turkey, which does not allow me to be myself, because I cannot communicate with the fans in the same way,” he explained. “But my career is very rich because of that: Spain, Italy, England, Portugal, Turkey… that has made me a different person and a different coach.”

In this answer, there is less celebration and more learning. The coach presents himself as the result of that constant journey, someone for whom change has stopped being a temporary obstacle and has become part of his professional identity.

The next reflection moved into the more intimate side of the role, where victory and defeat almost never have time to settle. Asked how he handles football’s emotional highs and lows, Mourinho was direct, terse and illuminating.

“I don’t have time to deal with that. When you are a player, you have time to enjoy victory or analyse defeat. When you are a coach, the game ends, you get on the bus and you are already thinking about the next one,” he stressed. “When I win, I don’t have time to go to ‘paradise’; when I lose, I don’t have time to go to ‘hell’. It’s passion, that’s all.”

It is a raw definition of the job: to live everything intensely without, however, truly stopping to absorb it fully. In Mourinho’s view, the coach is constantly pushed forward by the schedule, by responsibility and by a passion that allows no pauses.

There was also room for an exercise in imaginary return. If he could go back and manage one game from the past, Mourinho did not choose a celebration, but a wound.

“It would be the Europa League final, Roma against Sevilla. With a different referee.”

The choice reveals both competitiveness and memory. Even when he looks back, Mourinho does not seek only the days when he touched the sky; he also dwells on those when he feels the outcome could have been different.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.