Jose Mourinho can do it again. The Portuguese coach will manage his sixth European final on Wednesday when AS Roma face Sevilla in Budapest for the 2022-23 UEFA Europa League final (watch live on Paramount+). It might be a historical night for both Mourinho and the Italian club, who last season finally won their first UEFA trophy in their history, taking home the UEFA Conference League trophy after beating 1-0 Feyenoord in Tirana.
Mourinho doesn't know what losing is like on this stage, winning all five of his European final appearances. While the Giallorossi will play their second European final in a row, Mourinho wants to lift his sixth European trophy after winning two Champions Leagues with Porto and Inter, two Europa Leagues with Porto and Manchester United (was called UEFA Cup when won with Porto in 2003) and the UEFA Conference League with AS Roma.
Let's take a look at the European successes of Mourinho and rank the five finals he's won:
5. 2017 Europa League: Manchester United 2, Ajax 0
Before the current season under Erik ten Hag, Jose Mourinho was the last manager to win a trophy with Manchester United. The Portuguese coach won the 2017 Europa League final against Ajax in his first season at the club. The Red Devils were the favorites in that game, considering they were playing with Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford and Juan Mata among others while Ajax were a young side with players that just emerged at high levels under coach Peter Bosz. Andre Onana, Matthijs de Ligt and Hakim Ziyech all started the final, while Frankie de Jong, Donny van de Beek and David Neres were sitting on the bench. The game ended 2-0 for United, thanks to the goals scored by Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
4. 2022 Europa Conference League: AS Roma 1, Feyenoord 0
The 2022 Conference League final was a historical win for AS Roma as the Italian club failed to win a UEFA trophy until last year. Jose Mourinho was appointed in the summer of 2021 and immediately won another European trophy in his first season in charge. The AS Roma fans went crazy and celebrated the historical win in the streets of Rome. The Giallorossi managed to beat Leicester in the semifinals while Feyenoord knocked out Olympique Marseille before facing Mourinho's team. The final was played in Tirana and Roma won 1-0 thanks to the goal scored by Nicolò Zaniolo in the first half of the game.
3. 2003 UEFA Cup: FC Porto 3, Celtic 2
Jose Mourinho's first European trophy was the 2002-23 UEFA Cup when Porto won 3-2 in Seville against Celtic. The Portuguese side scored the opening goal with Brazilian striker Derlei, but Celtic immediately equalized in the second half with Henrik Larsson. Porto scored again with Dmitri Alenicev but it took only three minutes for Larsson to equalize again with another header. The final went to the extra time and it was the same Derlei who scored the deciding goal of the game five minutes before potential penalties. That was only the beginning of a winning cycle for the then-40-year-old Mourinho, who next season was going to win his first Champions League.
2. 2010 Champions League: Inter 2, Bayern Munich 0
In the summer of 2008, Inter appointed Mourinho with the declared goal to win the Champions League after the Nerazzurri failed to win a major European trophy since the 1960s. Mourinho failed in his first season in charge after being knocked out by Manchester United in the round of 16 but in his second season in charge, he finally made it. Inter won against Chelsea in the Round of 16, CSKA in the quarterfinals and Pep Guardiola's FC Barcelona in the semifinals before winning 2-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid against Bayern Munich. Argentinian striker Diego Milito scored the winning brace and Inter won the treble that season after winning the Serie A title and the Coppa Italia. A few days after that final, Mourinho left Inter and was appointed coach of Real Madrid.
1. 2004 Champions League: FC Porto 3, AS Monaco 0
After winning the UEFA Cup the season before, Jose Mourinho's Porto confirmed to be a strong side and surprisingly knocked out Manchester United in the Round of 16, Olympique Lyon in the quarterfinals and Deportivo La Coruna in the semifinals and faced AS Monaco in the final of the competition. The Portuguese side easily won 3-0 the final and Mourinho won his first Champions League with players such as Deco, Maniche and more. This was probably the season when Mourinho emerged as one of the best managers in the game. In fact, a few days after winning the final he signed with Chelsea, and the rest is history.
