No "Mour" at Real Madrid anymore

When ‘The Special One’ entered the gates of the Bernabeu, Los Blancos were anticipating a new era of domestic and European dominance; but now, at the time of his departure, the much coveted tenth European crown is still a dream. Nothing much has changed at Real, except the reputation, which Jose Mourinho has been successfully able to lower.

The Portuguese’s time might have started on a good note but certainly didn’t end shining. Starting from the 5-0 thumping at the hands of the then-mighty Blaugrana to the controversial home-loss in the Copa Del Rey final when he and his talisman Ronaldo were sent off, nothing went well for Mourinho. And the Semifinal exits from the Champions League – first to Barcelona, then to Bayern and finally to Dortmund - is something Jose would love to forget, but which he will certainly not!

The Madrid boss was famous for his footballing acumen and superb man-management skills. But the attributes were evident only in his second season with the Merengues, when he inspired his side to be the champions of Spain, piling up 100 points in the process and being the first in the history of Primera Divison to achieve the feat. Madrid also finished 9 points beyond the Catalans. His side looked confident to win the the Champions League, only to lose to Bayern in the semifinal on penalties. But the way he brought the best out of his men and hugely improved players like Benzema, Higuain, Ozil, Ronaldo, Marcelo, and Khedira stands as an example for any manager to emulate, but can only imagine.

In the first season, Jose Mourinho won the Copa del Rey, beating FC Barcelona with an extra time header from Cristiano Ronaldo in a match where Madrid were certainly the better side. This was the first time he became a fan favorite among Madridsita, and why not? He had beaten the best.

The next season, he went on to win the league ahead of Barcelona. The match of the season came against Pep’s Barcelona when he led his team to a 2-1 win. and it was at the Camp Nou, which makes the amazing success he had that season even sweeter. When it came to the Champions League, everyone was quite sure Real were going to win the Decima but for the German voodoo. His side lost 2-1 away to Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena and won 2-1 at home to take the game to extra time, only to lose to the Germans in the penalties. This amazing feat required Florentino Perez, the President of Real Madrid, to compliment Mourinho’s commitment for the club with a contract extension which would keep him in the club till 2016. To sum up the season, it was not disappointing. The La Liga crown was back to the Santiago Bernabeu in his second season in charge. The only disappointment was the La Decima which was not in the trophy cabinet at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The third season was the season when everything started taking a wrong turn for ‘The Special One’. Cristiano Ronaldo was, apparently, not happy at Madrid. Then Jose told the world that he didn’t have a team. The La Liga started in the worst way possible. Losses to cross city rivals Getafe, Sevilla and Pepe Mel’s Betis had virtually crowned Barcelona as the Champions as early as September. His team were drawn in a tough group in the Champions League , with Dortmund (to whom they eventually lost and exited the Champions League in the semifinal stage), Manchester City and Ajax Amsterdam. The match at home to Manchester City, when Real won 3-2 with a 90th minute winner from Ronaldo, was celebrated by Mourinho with an epic slide from the technical area into the pitch. That showed how much he loved the game and that his desire to win was the greatest.

Real made a good comeback to the season after the mid-season thrashing of Valencia 5-0 away. The second half started swiftly and brought Real to a good comeback situation. Then Casillas injured his hand with a clearance form Alvaro Arbeloa, which had the potential to keep him out for the rest of the season. Jose went to the market to pick up Diego Lopez from Sevilla, where he was struggling as a second choice. Diego came to Bernabeu and then became the manager’s favorite ahead of the club favorite and national team captain, Iker Casillas. The differences among the players started surfacing eventually and reached a limit beyond repair. The players were not interested in winning for ‘The Special One’ now. Mourinho had now become a liability for Real rather than a possession.

Florentino Perez, who brought him to win the La Decima, was left with no choice but to part ways with the Portuguese. Now it’s for the Madrid fans to decide whether to hate him or love him. But whatever the choice, Mourinho will still be the special one. Or maybe not!