Jose Mourinho - Nine Year Unbeaten Home League Run!
This Saturday could mark an incredible anniversary for Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho, if his side can avoid defeat at home to Levante it will be nine years since he tasted defeat in a home league match!
| It's nine years since one of the four teams "The Special One" has managed since 2002 - Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real - lost a league match at home. He may be a love/hate character in football, constantly dividing opinions and the centre of controversy, but it can't be denied that the enigmatic coach has one of the most outstanding and decorated careers in football coaching. The last time Mourinho experienced a league |
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defeat at home was on 23rd February 2002, when his nine man Porto side were beaten 3-2 by Beira Mar, but even this was in exceptional circumstances!
But what makes "The Special One" so special? Talking to the BBC, David Pleat gave an insight by explainin"He exudes confidence and that percolates through to the players. They play with no fear."
Pleat went on to liken Mourinho to such revolutionary coaches as Ukrainian Valeri Lobanovski, Hungarian Bela Guttmann, Italians Helenio Herrera and Arrigo Sacchi, and Dutchmen Rinus Michels and Louis van Gaal by being "imaginative, thoughtful, inventive and creative". Interestingly, all of those coaches, including Mourinho, had aspiring football careers and either had low-key professional playing careers or as in Sacchi's case never played professionally.
Of course, Mourinho has had his fair share of luck during his incredible nine year unbeaten league run, non more so than on 25th August 2002, when Edgaras Jankauskas's 97th-minute equaliser gave Porto a 2-2 draw against Belenenses. But since the defeat in 2002 to Beira Mar, Mourinho's teams have played 147 home league games with 122 victories coming from a total of 331 goals scored and just 87 conceded.
Mourinho's sides have long been associated with a never-say-die attitude, so we can't imagine the Real Madrid players surrendering Mourinho's remarkable unbeaten home league run or Real's 100% record at the Santiago Bernabeu since his arrival when they face Levante in Spain's capital at 2000 GMT this Saturday.
However, all eyes will be on the weekend of 16th and 17th April, when Real Madrid will face Lionel Messi and friends, as Barcelona travel to the Bernabeu for their league encounter.
