Jose Mourinho made it five European trophies from five European finals last night when he guided his Roma team to a UEFA Europa Conference League victory over Feyenoord.
Like most big finals these days, it was a cagey, tense affair, with just a solitary goal determining the outcome at 1-0.
The Portuguese manager has never lost one of these big occasions and of course, unfortunately, it all started against us in 2003 when Celtic lost out 3-2 to his Porto side in the UEFA Cup Final.
However, remarkably, what Henrik Larsson managed to do that night remains unrivalled against Mourinho – he’s the only player to ever score against one of his teams in a European final and he did it twice!
Mourinho went on to win the 2004 Champions League final by a 3-0 scoreline when Porto trounced Monaco.
His next Champions League title came in 2010 when his Inter Milan team brought back the spirit of the 1960s with a 2-0 victory against Bayern Munich.
Then, Mourinho was a winner again in 2017 when Manchester United beat Ajax 2-0.
That brings us right up to date and to last night, which as mentioned was a tight 1-0 win.
Jose Mourinho remains an unpopular character with some Celtic supporters for Porto’s antics that night in Seville, which is fair enough, but that record is astounding.
Apparently, it takes a truly special and iconic player to score against one of his teams in a European final. Larsson was a force of nature that night and almost single-handedly dragged Celtic to one of our most famous victories.
It wasn’t to be, but what a performance and what a man! That it stands out to this day is a testament to the king and what he offered Celtic.
In other news, BBC set to air special Celtic programme.
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