?Less than one year after he was last in the dugout at Old Trafford, José Mourinho will return to Manchester United as an opposition manager after taking over from Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham.
The 56-year-old has a perfect record from his opening three games in north London, and all eyes will be on how Mourinho gets on against his former side Manchester United in Wednesday’s narrative-filled match.
Mourinho’s spent 19 years as a first-team manager in Europe, so it’s no surprise that along the way he’s been forced to return to his old stomping grounds in the latter stages of his career.
So ahead of his return to Old Trafford, what better time to look at exactly how Mourinho’s fared when he’s faced his old clubs.
S.L. Benfica
Mourinho’s most well known for making his name at FC Porto, but he actually started his senior managerial career in Portugal’s capital with S.L. Benfica.
He only spent a few months in charge, but Mourinho was given the chance to face the Águias three years later when his Porto side welcomed Benfica to the Estádio do Dragão.
Mourinho named the likes of Deco, Ricardo Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira in his starting lineup – as well as current Wolves manager Nuno Espírito Santo on the bench – when the two Portuguese giants met in September 2003.
Derlei put Porto into the lead at half-time, while an own-goal from Argel Fucks shortly after the break ensured all three points stayed in northwest Portugal.
Mourinho’s side also finished with a one-man advantage against José Antonio Camacho’s Benfica after defender Ricardo Rocha was shown a second yellow card just 20 minutes before the final whistle.
FC Porto
One year and eight days after Mourinho’s win against Benfica, the Portuguese manager was once again in charge at the Estádio do Dragão, but this time he was sitting in the away dugout after taking over at Chelsea a few months earlier.
Mourinho, who’d just won the Champions League with Porto, unsurprisingly received a heroes welcome by the home fans.
But there wasn’t any love lost for Mourinho by the time the match kicked-off in their Champions League group stage match, and defensive midfielder Aleksey Smertin put Chelsea into a one-goal lead inside the opening 10 minutes.
Didier Drogba added a second just after half-time to put Chelsea in control of the match, and although substitute Benni McCarthy did pull one back, captain John Terry rounded off the scoring against Porto to help the Blues qualify as Group H winners.
Real Madrid
Mourinho’s second-longest spell as a manager came with Real Madrid, where he lifted a trophy every season he was at the Santiago Bernabéu before leaving the club in 2013.
But it wasn’t until he won the ‘Mourinho treble’ with Manchester United that he faced Los Blancos for the first time since he left, this time playing against his old side on neutral ground in the UEFA Super Cup.
There were over 30,000 fans packed into the Philip II Arena in Macedonia to watch Mourinho take on Real Madrid, but in a career first, the Portuguese manager actually lost his first game against his former club.
Casemiro put Real Madrid into the lead midway through the first half with a well-taken sliding finish, while Isco added a second goal just after half time when he combined with Gareth Bale before firing the ball underneath David de Gea.
Romelu Lukaku pulled one back when he reacted the quickest from Nemanja Mati?’s long-range shot, which was spilt by Keylor Navas, but it was too little too late in what is still the penultimate final in Mourinho’s career to date – United went on to lose the FA Cup final later that season.
Chelsea
Mourinho avoided the poetic return to Stamford Bridge in his first-ever match against Chelsea, but the Portuguese manager did have to knock his former side out of the Champions League knockout stages in 2010.
His Inter side famously went on to win the competition that season, but not before goals from Diego Milito and Esteban Cambiasso either side of Salomon Kalou’s equaliser gave the Nerazzurri a vital win in the first knockout stage match at San Siro.
Samuel Eto’o’s late goal in the return leg at Stamford Bridge ensured that Inter booked their place in the quarter-finals, but his form against Chelsea dipped dramatically after taking over at Manchester United.
In seven games against the Blues, Mourinho’s United lost four times across all competitions, while they also drew once against Chelsea just a few weeks before he was replaced by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Old Trafford.
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