Jose Mourinho losing special 150-game unbeaten record led to "virtually impossible" rant

On this day 11 years ago, Jose Mourinho saw his staggering 150-game unbeaten home league record come to a crashing halt as Sporting Gijon stunned Real Madrid and forced the Portuguese icon to concede a La Liga title triumph was "virtually impossible".

Miguel de las Cuevas scored the only goal of the game with the visitors' only shot on target as the Cristiano Ronaldo-less hosts failed to preserve Mourinho's historic run. Prior to Gijon's 2011 upset, the 'Special One' hadn't tasted a home league defeat since his nine-man Porto were humbled 3-2 by Portuguese minnows SC Beira-Mar on 23 February 2002, nine years previous.

At the time, not only was the La Liga loss to Gijon a record-ended one, but it saw Los Blancos suffer a significant setback. With title rivals Barcelona having beaten Villarreal, Mourinho's Madrid found themselves eight points adrift of their fierce rivals with only eight matches remaining.

Cue some classic Jose. When asked if Real could still win the title after the match, Mourinho replied: "Objectively, it is virtually impossible."

During the fateful clash at the Santiago Bernabeu, Mourinho was without a number of key figures. In addition to missing Ronaldo - who was then on his way to a 53-goal season - the hosts were without the likes of Karim Benzema and Marcelo.

In their absence, Real still peppered Gijon's goal, however visiting goalkeeper Juan Pablo Colinas made a string of fine saves to claim the unlikeliest of clean sheets. Despite confessing injuries forced a change in tactics, Mourinho lauded the visitors for their defensive approach - a style he himself has often been revered for in the past.

Mourinho added: "Without our most creative players, we had to play more direct. It was just a