Mourinho’s Porto shocked the world and won the Champions League in 2004

The Champions League has seen several stories of an outsider dominating the competition. And Porto’s 2004 story is one of the most famous. The young coach José Mourinho sat on the bench of the Portuguese club and led Porto to the greatest European glory.

Looking back at the Porto team of that time, it is clear why the Portuguese shocked the world back then. At stopper was then young Ricardo Carvalho, who Mourinho later took to Chelsea, the midfield was led by Deco, one of the best Portuguese players in history, and in attack was the likes of Hugo Almeida, who has 19 goals for the Portuguese national team.

The goal was also secured by Vítor Baía, who had a stint at Barcelona and 80 starts for the Portuguese national team.

The charismatic coach José Mourinho shocked the world at the time and drew attention to himself. Whether positive or negative, Mourinho was simply the talk of the town.

In the 2002/03 season Porto won the Europa League, then the UEFA Cup, which was already a great achievement. But the new star coach was aiming even higher.

That Porto were having a great season was evident in the league. From 17 August 2003 to 28 March 2004, Mourinho’s charges did not lose in the Portuguese league, and only drew five times in 28 matches. The season ended with the title with only two defeats and an eight-point lead over Benfica.

And they still had the Champions League final to look forward to. But we’ll get there, the journey through the millionaire’s competition deserves a lot of attention.

Champions League group stage

Porto didn’t get an easy group. The main opponent was Real Madrid, the most successful team in the competition, with stars such as Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, Figo, David Beckham and Roberto Carlos. But Olympique Marseille and Partizan Belgrade were not exactly easy opponents either.

Moreover, Porto did not start the group well, only drawing 1-1 with Partizan and then losing 1-3 at home to Real Madrid. After two games, Mourinho’s side had one point and their promotion hopes looked bleak.

But then came two crucial wins over Marseille, first 3:2 away and then 1:0 at home. Porto then also beat Partizan at their stadium (2: 1) and drew with Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu 1: 1.

In the end, Porto was promoted from the second place with 11 points, the first Real Madrid had 14 points, the third Marseille collected only 4 points and the last Partizan had 3 points for three draws.

Knockout stage

Fate was not at all kind to Porto as it was awarded to Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United in the eighth round. Moreover, United went ahead in the 14th minute in the first leg at Estádio Do Dragao. But Porto turned the tables and shocked the world thanks to two McCarthy strikes.

In the rematch, Paul Scholes sent United into the lead, and thanks to the away goals rule, the English giant advanced at that point. But in the 90th minute, hero Costinha emerged to send Porto into the quarter-finals.

In the quarter-finals, Porto played another French side, this time Lyon. Once again, the home ground at the Dragau worked and Deco and Carvalho fired home a 2-0 win. The rematch at the Stade de Gerland brought a 2: 2 draw and a fairly comfortable progression to the semi-finals.

There, the “Special One” took on the then Spanish giant. While today Deportivo La Coruña is struggling in the third league, at the turn of the 21st century it was one of the top Spanish teams.

The first leg was a goalless draw, and the rematch at the Estadio Riazor was a long one. But in the 60th minute, referee Pierluigi Collina, who two months later became an enemy of Czech football, whistled a penalty. It was converted by Derlei and Porto defended their narrow lead.

A fairy tale with a golden dot

Porto reached the final of the Champions League, a historic achievement. Their opponent in one of the most watched football matches in the world was Monaco. For the third time in the competition, Mourinho had to devise tactics for the French team.

Carlos Alberto opened the final in Gelsenkirchen with a goal in the 39th minute. Deco added a second goal in the 71st minute and Monaco’s resistance was finally broken four minutes later by Alenichev. Porto thus won the final 3-0 and took the trophy in convincing fashion.

For the first time since 1995, a club outside the top four leagues won the Champions League, and Porto completed the European double by dominating the Europa League the season before.

Source: UEFA, Youtube