Jose Mourinho will break Sir Alex Ferguson’s record of Champions League semi-final appearances when Chelsea travel to Atletico Madrid tonight.
The tie will be the eighth time the Portuguese has taken charge of a last four encounter in Europe’s premier competition and his third at the Stamford Bridge helm.
Mourinho made his Champions League debut in 2001-02, when he took over midway through the season at Porto, but won the competition in his first full tilt at the title, in 2003-04 (having claimed the Uefa Cup in 2002-03).
That turned out to be his only Champions League semi-final appearance with the club as he moved on to Chelsea that summer. He took the Blues to the cusp of European glory, losing out to Liverpool at the semi-final stage in both 2005 and 2007.
Mourinho left Chelsea a matter of months into the next season and did not return to football until the following campaign, when he agreed to coach Inter. His first season in Milan ended with a Serie A title, but disappointment in Europe as the Nerazzurri exited to Manchester United in the last 16.
However, the Portuguese led the Italians to treble glory in 2009-10, as they claimed the Scudetto, the Coppa Italia and the Champions League – Inter’s first success in Europe’s premier club competition since 1965.
That was Mourinho’s second Champions League victory and his fourth semi-final in the competition. With three more added in consecutive seasons at Madrid, he will now surpass Ferguson with eight last-four appearances on Tuesday.
It is also the fifth straight campaign the 51-year-old has reached the penultimate round of the tournament.
Source: Goal
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