Ten years on from Jose Mourinho’s infamous whisper into Pep Guardiola’s ear as the Spaniard was passing on instructions to Zlatan Ibrahimovich at the Camp Nou, the Special One has finally admitted what he told his managerial counterpart.
Winning the treble with Inter Milan was arguably Mourinho’s biggest achievement in his managerial career to date.
On the way to the Champions League title, his Inter side came up against Guardiola’s Barcelona in the semifinal. Barca were the holders of the title and, by many people’s estimation, the best team in the world at the time.
However, Mourinho masterminded a 3-1 win over the Catalan giants at the San Siro in the first leg. In the return leg at the Camp Nou, the Nerazzurri’s hopes of progressing to the final looked dead and buried when Thiago Motta was sent off after just 28 minutes.
However, Barcelona could only manage one goal in the match and the Italians thus ended up 3-2 winners on aggregate.
Recalling the events on the night, the Spurs boss told La Gazzetta dello Sport (as relayed by the Mirror): “When Sergio Busquets fell almost knocked out, I was diagonally between our bench, his and the place where Motta was sent off.
“Out of the corner of my eye I saw the Barcelona bench celebrating it as if Guardiola had already won calling Ibrahimovic to give instructions.
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When asked what he whispered to Guardiola, Mourinho said: “Don’t throw the party, the game is not over.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Mourinho has been the biggest entertainer in the game for the last two decades – not because of how he sets his teams up but because he lives and breathes the emotions of the game and wears his heart on his sleeve.
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