The Story Of Mourinho: His Inner Rage, His Pragmatic Attitude

Remember when La Liga peaked? No, it wasn't when Real Madrid won 3 champions leagues in a row or when Barcelona were winning the league for fun. It was when Barcelona had Pep Guardiola and Real Madrid had Jose Mourinho. Though at first Barcelona was a runaway train. Nothing seemed to be enough to stop them. But this is Mourinho's story of actually putting a halt to that train and building a Real Madrid that is ruling the world even 10 years later.

May of 2010. Mourinho wins a historic treble with Inter Milan. He had conquered the serie A. He had already put Chelsea on the map during his time in the first years of Roman Abramovic. So he did the job and England too. After winning the treble Mourinho finally agreed to the fact that he is now ready for the next big challenge. A little backstory. Mourinho was actually a Barcelona player. And was also coaching in Barcelona (youth academy) after his retirement. After that he went to Porto and did something magical. He went to Chelsea and did more magic there. Walking into a league of peak Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger and beating them all, Mourinho expected himself to be ready. After Frank Rijkaard left the club, the board at Barcelona led by Johan Cruyff were to decide the new coach.

The world was betting on Jose Mourinho to be the one as he was decorated and also had Barcelona background. But that board decided to go for a newbie, Pep Guardiola. This infuriated Mourinho. He went to Inter. Beat Barcelona in the semi final. And celebrated like wild. Beating a team which didn't give him a chance meant to world to him, as would anyone. Consequently Real Madrid approached this hot property and Mourinho agreed. Real paid record amount of compensation for him. First year wasn't a miracle. Real didn't win the league or some sort. They only won the Copa del Rey. But that is a cup Real Madrid barely wins. Mourinho got that. Real Madrid couldn't progress from the round of 16 in the champions league for 6 years. They reached the semi finals that year. Significant improvement.

Mourinho brought Ozil, Di Maria and Khedira to club. They became celebrated superstars afterwards. They very next season Real Madrid were a rampant bull. Scoring goals left right and center and winning for fun in the league. Scoring a total of 121 goals in a 38 game season which is a record to this day. And only team to score 100 points in a 38 game season which was later matched by Manchester City. This team stopped Barcelona from winning everything. They obviously won the league in that season. Now Mourinho did not beat Barcelona in the nine classicos he played in that single year. But he introduced a way to beat them. That a pragmatic approach of neutralizing Barcelona instead matching them toe to toe is a better approach. Real may not have won all the classicos but they had looked strong, intent, and a team with a goal, winning.

Sadly, Pep left Barcelona the very next season and Mourinho losing the locker room eventually killed the vibe all around. But Pep vs Mourinho and Barcelona vs Real Madrid back then were the peak of Spanish football. The stakes have never been higher. And Mourinho may had left after a brief period but he installed a winning mentality in this team. Installed a belief that they can't be mentally beaten by a few games against their favor. And real Madrid have reaped the rewards over the years. Mourinho may not had brought the La Decima home, but his foundation saw Real Madrid bring five champions league trophies in the span of 8 years. Absolutely mental.