Jose Mourinho dislikes looking back at his last adventure in the Champions League, where he was once a domineering figure. It needs a longer and longer memory to recall it.
For more than three years, club football’s most glamorous competition has been rolling on nicely without him. As he approached another landmark in his storied career – Wednesday's Europa League final between his Roma and Sevilla – Mourinho reflected on his many past employers.
He singled out Tottenham Hotspur, his previous stop-off before Rome, as the club for which he retains least affection. The spell was trophyless, the exit fractious and the European campaigns ended badly: a 3-0 defeat to Dinamo Zagreb in the Europa League a month before he was sacked; a 3-0 loss at RB Leipzig the last time he stood to attention on a touchline while the Champions League anthem was being played.
Since then, there has been a global pandemic, two of Mourinho’s exes – Chelsea and Real Madrid – have lifted the European Cup, and Internazionale, one of the two clubs he guided to the prize, have reached its final.