Manchester United will come up against former manager Jose Mourinho in the Europa League this week when the Red Devils make the transcontinental trip to Turkey.
Mourinho spent just over two seasons in charge at Old Trafford and is still the last United boss to win two trophies in a single campaign when he delivered the Carabao Cup and Europa League in 2016/17. He also claims a second place Premier League finish in 2017/18 to be one of the greatest achievements of his career given the limitations he encountered.
The Portuguese was appointed Fenerbahce head coach during the summer, the tenth different club of his managerial career in the fifth different country. It’s been tough going in Turkey’s Super Lig given Galatasaray’s rediscovered dominance. But the Europa League has been kinder, taking four points from opening fixtures against Union Saint-Gilloise and FC Twente.
Mourinho, who was handed his start in coaching when he worked alongside the late Sir Bobby Robson, initially as a translator, at Sporting CP, Porto and Barcelona, never faced United in his very early managerial days with Benfica and Uniao de Leiria, nor did he encounter them during three seasons at Roma. But the 61-year-old has with five of his other clubs over the past two decades.
Although he’d already won the UEFA Cup with Porto the season before, it was Mourinho’s two-legged encounter with Sir Alex Ferguson’s United in early 2004 that truly put him on the map.
Despite Quinton Fortune putting United ahead in the Estadio do Dragao, Benni McCarthy scored twice to take an aggregate lead to Old Trafford. There, Paul Scholes looked like he’d done enough to push the Red Devils into the quarter-finals on away goals, until Tim Howard could only parry a late McCarthy free-kick and Costinha turned in the rebound, sending Mourinho and his coat scampering down the touchline in scenes of utter jubilation. Porto went on to win the whole thing.
Shortly after describing himself as “a special one” in his Chelsea unveiling, Mourinho’s first ever game in English football saw United visit Stamford Bridge. A single goal from Eidur Gudjohnsen secured a Chelsea win and Mourinho went unbeaten against United over four games in 2004/05.
United were massive underdogs when Darren Fletcher’s solitary goal inflicted an unexpected Chelsea defeat in the Premier League during 2005/06, but his overall record in these fixtures across both spells in west London was incredibly strong. His Chelsea beat United in the first FA Cup final held at the new Wembley Stadium in 2007, while four Premier League meetings after Mourinho returned in 2013 resulted in two wins and two draws.
Mourinho was building something at Inter that ultimately topped Pep Guardiola’s almighty Barcelona en-route to winning the Champions League in 2009/10 and completing a rare treble. But in the last 16 of the previous year’s competition, his team fell to United.
The first leg at San Siro finished 0-0 but headers from Nemanja Vidic and Cristiano Ronaldo in the return at Old Trafford decided the tie in United’s favour.
Mourinho took revenge for his Champions League exit with Inter when he next faced United four years later with Real Madrid, also at the last 16 stage. Danny Welbeck initially gave the Red Devils a first-leg lead at the Bernabeu that was cancelled out by Cristiano Ronaldo.
United built on that advantage in the Old Trafford return leg when Sergio Ramos scored an own goal, but a controversial red card for Nani opened the door for Madrid. Luka Modric levelled things on aggregate and the player mismatch proved decisive when Ronaldo scored the winner.
Mourinho’s biggest win over United with any club to date came in October 2020 when he took his Tottenham Hotspur side to Old Trafford. No fans were present due to ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, so the 6-1 thrashing was only seen on television. Bruno Fernandes scored an early penalty but then Spurs systematically destroyed United over the remaining 88 minutes.
Yet defeat to United in April 2021 also proved to be one of the final nails in Mourinho’s coffin at Spurs as he was sacked eight days later and denied the chance to lead the team into the Carabao Cup final.
Mourinho has only faced Barcelona (31) and Liverpool (27) more often than United in his career to date. This week’s meeting with his former employer will be a 25th encounter, having already won substantially more games than he has lost over the years.
