No "Mour" at Real Madrid anymore

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!