Bernabeu beckons for Mourinho

Two down, one to go. Inter head to the Bernabeu with a historic treble just ninety minutes away.

The story is familiar. For 45 years now the Nerazzurri have craved the ‘Big Eared’ cup which Helenio Herrera last brought home in the mid 60’s. The fascination has become an obsession, recent failures only provoking the desire for la Benemeata to elevate themselves to the stature of European Cup winners once again.

Having eliminated Chelsea and Barcelona, il Biscione head into the match as the bookies favourites, but let us not forget, Bayern Munich are too chasing their third trophy of the season. Last week the German champions added the DFB Pokal to the Bundesliga they wrapped up a few weeks before. Apart from the obvious prize, and the glory of a treble, the clash also throws up a number of other intriguing subtexts.

Essentially, the winner will be doing club and country a favour as the game represents a de facto play-off as to whether Serie A or the Bundesliga has four Champions League places from 2011/12. Not that will be at the forefront of the Coach’s minds, as the once sorcerer and apprentice combination seek to outdo each other for individual gain. Long before he was special, Mourinho was assistant to Louis van Gaal at Barcelona. Both tacticians have had to use every ounce of their knowledge and experience to land their respective clubs in the final, and who gets the better from the dug-out will play a crucial role in the eventual victors of the tie. Whoever that may be, the winning coach will also enter an elite list of coaches to win the European Cup with two different clubs.

Should that be Mourinho and Inter, the win may very well defeat the ends for the San Siro giants. Saturday’s showpiece now increasingly looks like being Mourinho’s swansong. His cryptic warblings suggest as much, and with Real Madrid ending another season potless and set to dispose of Manuel Pellegrini, a Mourinho-Madrid marriage seems likely. In just two seasons on the peninsula, Mourinho can indelibly write his name into Italian football history. It is a similar position to when he was at Porto and believed he had achieved all he could at the club. On the back of five successive Scudetto’s and the trophy he was brought into bring, the Special One may see this as a natural parting point on which to depart.

Speculation has been rife throughout Spain and Italy that a deal for Mourinho to take over the los Blanco’s is all but done. Mourinho himself has done little to dampen those rumours, and indeed has largely fuelled them himself over recent months by disclosing problems about his difficulties with Italy, and his admiration and desire to coach Real. However, on what grounds will Jose leave Italy? His name will forever be in the record books but will it be in the hearts? There is no doubting the gravitas of a treble. Previously no Italian club has ever achieved it, and the unique band of clubs who have stop at Celtic, Ajax, PSV, Manchester United and Barcelona. However, could Mourinho really leave Calcio saying he has created a truly great side? Is his work really done? Could he really not take Inter any further?

On the back of this season Mourinho could have gone onto build a dynasty at Inter. Everything is in place for him to do so, and over a period of time there would be nothing to stop the Portuguese emaciating himself into Inter and creating a power to be in position to dominate European football for the foreseeable future. His current production is far from flawless, there is scope for development, and thus domination. Seemingly though, that is not his mentality and after triumphant visits to England, Italy and now probably Spain, it would be interesting to hear the prospective career plan of a man who has seen and done most of it by the age of 47. The legend is there, the legacy is not.

Part of the problem is Mourinho’s relationship with everyone bar his own flock. However, the verbals with the press and various authorities are all part of his modus operandi. Mourinho has no problem finding a house, more problematic is turning it into a home, and that situation is unlikely to change once he’s passed through the revolving doors of the Bernabeu. Madrid have hired and fired ten managers in the past ten seasons, and quite how Mourinho’s firestarter style will fit in with the complex and commandeering Real hierarchy remains to be seen. Much of that depends on Mourinho and what he wants to achieve. Over small periods of time his brief renaissances have been glorious, but as Napoleon Bonaparte told us, glory is fleeting, obscurity is forever.