Self-belief
“Please don't call me arrogant, but I'm European champion and I think I'm a special one.”
— First press conference as Chelsea manager, 2004
“Three Premierships, and I won more Premierships alone than the other 19 managers together. … Respect, respect, respect.”
— Manchester United, walking out of the press conference after a 3-0 home defeat by Tottenham, 2018
“If I wanted to have an easy job I would have stayed at Porto – beautiful blue chair, the UEFA Champions League trophy, God, and after God, me.”
— Chelsea, explaining why he left Porto, 2004
“I understand why he is emotional. You would be sad if your team got dominated by opponents who have been built with 10 per cent of your budget.”
— FC Porto, on Sir Alex Ferguson after beating Manchester United in the Champions League, 2004
“I've sat in this chair twice before in the Champions League, and I knock Man Utd out at home twice, with Porto - Man Utd out, and with Real Madrid - Man Utd out. So this is nothing new for this football club.”
— Manchester United, after a Champions League exit to Sevilla at Old Trafford, 2018
“I have been here two-and-a-half years, and it was fantastic. We won everything”
— FC Porto, after winning the Champions League final, 2004
“I am Jose Mourinho and I don't change. I arrive with all my qualities and my defects.”
— Real Madrid, at his unveiling at the Santiago Bernabéu, 2010
“I won eight championships and three Premier Leagues but I keep saying and thinking and feeling that second position last season was one of my biggest achievements in the game.”
— Manchester United, looking back on finishing second the season before, 2018
“Don't ask me what mistakes they are but I realise that during my career I have made mistakes. And I'm not going to make the same mistakes. I'm going to make new mistakes.”
— Tottenham, at his first press conference, 2019
“It is no secret that I want to go abroad one day, and this UEFA Cup final can mean a lot. If you win a European competition, people know your name and recognise your work.”
— FC Porto, before the UEFA Cup final against Celtic, 2003
“The third season is a failure. This is the worst season of my life. For many coaches it would be good, but for me it's terrible.”
— Real Madrid, after losing the Copa del Rey final to Atlético Madrid, 2013
“My conscience tells me that if, for example, Baker, Brown and Solanke are not national team players in a few years, I should blame myself.”
— Chelsea, on three academy players in pre-season, 2014
“I was always humble but you didn't understand that.”
— Tottenham, at his first press conference, asked whether he had changed, 2019
“If we win today but lose at El Sardinero, it counts for nothing, because Madrid isn't playing to win at the Camp Nou.”
— Real Madrid, after winning 2-1 at Barcelona, 2026
“I'm more altruistic, less egocentric. I don't think about me as much.”
— Benfica, at his presentation, on how he has changed, 2025
“… in Spain the situation is a bit different because some people hate me. And many of you are in this room.”
— Real Madrid, after going out of the Champions League semi-finals to Borussia Dortmund, 2013
“There are lots of poets in football but poets, they don't win many titles.”
— Manchester United, after winning the Europa League final against Ajax, 2017
“Do you know how many players I have brought through from the academy to the first team? Forty-nine. If anyone is interested I can give you the names.”
— Manchester United, at his first press conference, answering criticism over young players, 2016
“It is one thing to win when everyone expects it, when you made the investments to win, but it's quite another to win when something feels immortal, that feels truly special.”
— Roma, after winning the first Europa Conference League final, 2022
“A team of good boys, a team of nice boys, the only thing they can win at the end of the season is the Fair Play Cup. Something I have never won and have no interest in winning that.”
— Tottenham, asked about a half-time argument between two of his players, 2020
“This was not work tonight, this was history. We had to write history. We wrote it.”
— Roma, on the night they won the first Europa Conference League final, 2022
“I miss English football and English football misses me, there's no doubt.”
— Inter, before a Champions League quarter-final against CSKA Moscow, 2010
“At the end of the game, I thought about the 25 years that have flown by, but 25 years that have not changed my nature, that have not changed my passion, that have not changed my way of being, of living, that have not changed anything at all.”
— Benfica, after his first match back in charge, 2025
“What we need is to not negotiate things that are non-negotiable. Commitment is mandatory.”
— Real Madrid, at his first press conference of his second spell, 2026
“I won the league title in Portugal, Italy and England, but this one has been the toughest.”
— Real Madrid, after clinching the 2011-12 league title, 2012
“I always say that they can steal everything from me, but the story I created, no one can take away from me.”
— Benfica, in an interview with UEFA before playing Chelsea, 2025
“If the club decides to sack me because of bad results, that's part of the game. If that happens, I'll be a millionaire and I will get another club a couple of months later.”
— Chelsea, asked about his future before a Champions League match against Porto, 2007
“What I want to say to my players is to follow the dream, not make it an obsession, because for us this is a dream and not an obsession - for Barcelona it's not a dream, it's an obsession.”
— Inter, before the Champions League semi-final second leg at Camp Nou, 2010
“I don't go to cities to enjoy cities, I go to work. If I wanted to enjoy places I would go to Los Angeles and go to the beach every day.”
— Manchester United, denying he was unhappy living in Manchester, 2016
“The 'Mourinho effect' is winning trophies. It's September; you can't win trophies in September.”
— Fenerbahçe, asked about the 'Mourinho effect' after a Europa League win, 2024
“The day will come when polls, or AI, pick the team. But until then, I think, coaches pick the team and take decisions...”
— Real Madrid, asked whether he would change his midfield after criticism, 2026
“I am part of their history and they are part of my history. I helped them become a bigger Chelsea and they helped me to become a bigger Jose.”
— Benfica, at Stamford Bridge before facing Chelsea in the Champions League, 2025
“The Special One story doesn't make any sense. It's something that was said at the beginning of my career. But, as you progress, you grow and you think more about helping others rather than yourself. So that's ancient history for me. Tomorrow I'll just try to help others.”
— Roma, on the eve of the Europa Conference League final, 2022
“We played well in a difficult atmosphere and being in the quarter-finals is amazing for us. It's fantastic not only for the club and the players but also for the country.”
— FC Porto, after knocking Manchester United out of the Champions League at Old Trafford, 2004
“One team played to their potential and one didn't. Loss, yes - humiliation, no. It was a defeat we deserved, we just weren't good enough.”
— Real Madrid, after a 5-0 defeat at Barcelona, 2010
“For me, it is the most important trophy of my career because it is the last. That's the way I look at things.”
— Manchester United, after winning the Europa League final, 2017
“No no no. I have years of football experience and it is not a couple of victories that put me on the moon and it is not a couple of defeats that send me down to hell.”
— Tottenham, asked whether a bright start made them title contenders, 2020
“This is not my home. This is not an easy place to work and be happy.”
— Inter, after winning the Serie A title, a week before the Champions League final, 2010
“You talk of the title and we talk of time, a project, work. Titles are words, easy promises. Titles will come.”
— Roma, at his first press conference, 2021
“It is my fault: I have won so, so, so much it is hard to live up to those expectations. But the points record in the league is mine and no one can take that away.”
— Real Madrid, defending his record near the end of his last season, 2013
“If we are playing the most important match in the world we have to be happy.”
— FC Porto, on the eve of the Champions League final, 2004
“Nobody speaking with fairness and sense can say we don't deserve this title. But the players deserve this more than anybody and I'm very happy for the fans.”
— Chelsea, after the win at Bolton that sealed the club's first league title in 50 years, 2005
“I'm not going to run away, disappear, cry, because I heard a few boos. I won't disappear from the tunnel running immediately, the next match I'll be first to go out.”
— Manchester United, defending his record after a Champions League exit, 2018
“I learned we can beat anyone because Chelsea are not just 'anyone', they are one of the best.”
— Inter, after knocking his former club Chelsea out of the Champions League at Stamford Bridge, 2010
“There are no words to explain the feeling. We have won all the competitions, of course I am very happy.”
— FC Porto, after the Portuguese Cup final that completed a treble, 2003