19 years ago, the 40-year-old Mourinho celebrated at the Olympic Stadium in Seville, which was the first step for the ambitious young marshal to rule Europe; 19 years later, in Tirana, the country of the Mountain Eagle, the white-haired Portuguese "madman" cried with joy, not only because he equaled Trapattoni's record and won the three major European cups, but also because he fulfilled his promise: to leave Rome a trophy worthy of history - the European Union Cup is the second European championship trophy in the history of The Roma team. The first time was still as far away as 1961 (the International Exposition Cup, the predecessor of the Confederation Cup).
The famous coach, who has been considered to be full of talent since coaching Manchester United, and has been committed to second-rate giants such as Tottenham and Roma in recent years, has once again announced his return by conquering Europe. Even a newly created European Tier 3 event is the first time that Italian football has won the European championship since Inter won the Champions League trophy in 2010. And that time, the Nerazzurri boss was also Mourinho. Similarly, for Roma, which has lost its competitiveness as a Serie A title, as Uncle Bird himself said before, "the European Union Cup is our Champions League".
Zaniolo's goal brought Mourinho to tears: "I've been in Rome for 11 months and I realized what it meant the moment I arrived in Rome. The Roma are waiting for the long-lost trophy and as I told the lads in the dressing room, we did what needed to be done, we qualified for the Europa League, we got the European trophy. The white-haired Mourinho still proudly held out five fingers: "It's not just a game, it's history. We have to write history, and we did. ”
Without the spirit of standing at the Santiago Bernabeu 12 years ago, looking up at the stands to receive the admiration of the fans, Mourinho, who has been scarred by the years, is more likely to be moved. The camera recorded more tears than joy after the game, because everyone knew that the trophy was not easy to come by. Since winning the Europa League for Manchester United in the summer of 2017, there have been constant doubts that Mourinho has lost the magic of a top coach. Aside from flaunting his number of titles, he failed to convince skeptics in the standings. From Manchester United to Tottenham, the madman was fired halfway through, so much so that when he was in charge of Roma last summer, almost everyone didn't believe he could stay the whole season. But now, Mourinho's 3 fingers (3 Premier League titles) have become 5, shutting the mouths of all skeptics.
Mourinho is the second coach after Trapattoni to win five of europe's three major cups, the Italian boss has won the UEFA Cup (1976/77, 1990/91 and 1992/93), the European Cup Winners' Cup (1983/84, suspended in 1999) and the Champions League (1984/85), but four of them are at Juventus and one at Inter Milan. Mourinho won 2 Champions Leagues, 2 UEFA Cups/Europa Leagues and 1 UEFA Cup, respectively in 4 teams, the real top giants are only Inter and Manchester United, slightly better. Moreover, Mourinho, like Ferguson and Trapattoni, has won European championships in 3 different 10 years, which is enough to prove his "evergreen".
While Ferguson, Trapattoni and Ancelotti have all won six European titles (including the European Super League), and Paisley, Guardiola and Zidane (5) are also tied with Mourinho, they can win three European competitions that span the entire season, and only Trapattoni, german coach Rattke and the Portuguese can do it. Ratke won the title in 1974 (Bayern, Champions League), 1979 (Borussia Moncheng, UEFA Cup) and 1982 (Barca, Cup Winners), taking just eight years to complete three Major Slams.
Eriksson is a pity that the Swedish coach has won the League Cup (Gothenburg, 1982) and the Cup Winners' Cup (1999, Lazio), only to lose the Champions League final (1990, Benfica); otherwise he could have completed the Grand Slam. Arsenal's Wenger was the most bleak, leading Arsenal to three cup finals and losing all three times (1995 Cup Winners' Cup, 2000 UEFA Cup and 2006 Champions League).
However, Mourinho is not without regrets, although he has won the championship in 5 European finals, with a 100% probability of winning the cup, but he has lost 3 times in the European Super Cup, and has never had the opportunity to participate in the Intercontinental Cup/Club World Cup, becoming the club's world champion. In this regard, both Ferguson and Trapattoni are superior. This is the third consecutive time uncle Bird has beaten the Dutch coach in a European final: Bayern van Gaal in the 2010 Champions League final, Ajax in Bosch in the 2017 Europa League final, and Sloth's Feyenoord in the 2022 UEFA Cup final.
Before the match, fans from both teams and local extremists caused massive riots, with 12 police officers injured and 60 fans arrested, including 48 Roma fans. But it did not affect the morale of the Roma team. Roma are superior to Feyenoord in every way, and the nightmare of losing the 1984 Champions League final and the 1991 UEFA Cup final did not continue. Because of winning the championship, it also won about 19 million euros for the financially strapped Red Wolf Army, which can be described as fame and fortune. More importantly for Roma fans, Mourinho made it clear that after winning the championship, he would continue to lead the team and launch an impact on more trophies. This night, Mourinho, who stretched out five fingers, was already an unyielding "Roman".