Champions League Quarter Final 1st Leg Review

What a difference Mourinho makes.



"Harry, you take the England job, I'll take over at Spurs..."

The first legs of the Champions League Quarter Finals took place this week, and Jose Mourinho has more than a vested interest in all four of the ties, and how they unfolded.

Whilst his current team, Real Madrid, were crushing the life and spirit out of a hopelessly outclassed 10-man Tottenham Hotspur, in a packed out Bernabeu stadium, his previous side, Inter Milan were being humiliated at home in the San Siro, losing 5-2 to Schalke

As timing would have it, Mourinho's proud record of having presided over 150 undefeated home league games was ended as recently as Saturday as Real were beaten at home by Sporting Gijon, a personal landmark that had spanned his spells as manager of Porto (Champions League winners under his reign), Chelsea (Champions League semi-finalists under his reign) and Inter (Champions League winners under his reign).

There was no such trouble against Spurs. Real pummelled them. The loss of Aaron Lennon was tragic for the North Londoners, coming as it did just before the players left the dressing room (or so we’re lead to believe). It meant one less outlet to give the ball to, to relieve the pressure at the back. It also meant that Marcelo, Real’s left back, could push on and Real were rampant down the left as a result.

When Crouch saw red, they lost another outlet, and although Gareth Bale showed glimpses of the player that lit up the group stages of this competition, he just didn’t seem comfortable playing after his injuries.

With no outlets up front, and with Marcelo, Ronaldo, Di Maria and for me, the best player on the pitch Mesut Ozil piling forward at every juncture, Madrid spent the best part of 80 minutes camped in the Spurs half and there was almost an exhibition feel to the match in the latter stages, with Madrid fans wearing broad smiles as the goals kept coming. Spurs will need to score 5, yes that’s FIVE, and keep a clean sheet to boot, to have any chance of progressing, but as Jermaine Jenas said, “If anyone can, we can.” Ahem.

Had Mourinho still been the manager at Internazionale this week, there is no way they would have lost 5-2 to Schalke, at home! To add further context, this is essentially the same Inter side that Mourinho won the Champions League with just 11 months ago, the same one that denied a rampant Barcelona team, the “Best Club Team in the World” a place in the final.

Inter Milan are in a rut that seems to come to a team mourning the loss of a great leader, a period Chelsea fans will remember only too well from their post-Mourinho existence. 3^rd in the league and now facing elimination from the Champions League, a cup they so proudly hold, they will need to score a minimum of 4 in Germany to make things interesting.

Another of Mourinho's former sides was in action on Wednesday when Chelsea hosted Manchester United at Stamford Bridge. It was a reasonably entertaining encounter, unusual for this fixture, and United won it by the odd, marvellously well worked goal, which showed us again why Ryan Giggs is such a class act and still such an important member of the Red Devils side. With one touch he controlled a Michael Carrick cross-field pass perfectly into his stride as he glided into the penalty area past Jose Bosingwa, before looking up and cutting a pass back to an unmarked Rooney running into the penalty area. Different class.

Rooney - he made a rude V sign with his legs when celebrating his goal against Chelsea. Tut-tut

But Chelsea too are not the team they were. The Mourinho ghost still lingers at Stamford Bridge a little; a league and FA Cup double was secured last term but that team still had the Mourinho spine in place; Cech, Terry, Lampard, Essien and Drogba, all of them lieutenants of Mourinho’s time and all still irreplaceable at the Bridge. Whether through long term injury or illness, certainly Lampard, Essien and Drogba have all struggled this year, and as a team, they’re not firing like they were at this stage last season.

United can talk though. They have their own Dad’s army in place, but the difference is Ferguson has an ever revolving door for young players to enter the team through, with Rooney now the focal point of the team where previously it was Ronaldo. Hernandez is another find this season too. Chelsea have added Torres, but there’s no cohesion to Chelsea at present, Torres is being forced into a side that he doesn’t really fit into, whether through political pressure, or just  through a manager desperate for him to realise his potential.

With United leading 1-0 going back to Old Trafford, this is the only tie still truly in the balance.

The final game between Barcelona and Shakhtar Donetsk at the Noun Camp ended in a 5-1 victory to the Catalonians.

Oddly, and as it was last year, it will be up to Mourinho and his men, albeit a different team, to dispose of Barcelona, if anyone is to deny them a place in the final this year.  But whereas Inter Milan as a team were tight and compact, hard to beat and tactically astute, a la the staple Mourinho mould, this Real side he manages now is a far more expansive and fluid set-up. Can he get that level of discipline from his players over two legs to maintain 2 lines of four, keeping it tight in the middle, restricting Barcia to long hopeful shots and crosses into the box, i.e. the opposite of the Barcelona staple?

You wouldn't bet against him, would you? And whoever goes on to win these years Champions League, you wouldn’t bet against the Special One playing his part.