There was a Jose Mourinho banner at Stamford Bridge tonight that said “Simply the Best” – and after watching Chelsea’s epic fightback to knock Paris St Germain out of the Champions League it is hard to disagree.
When substitute Demba Ba scored his decisive late winner that took the Blues into the last four, the Portuguese manner sprinted down the touchline in a celebration reminiscent of his defining arrival on the global stage when Porto toppled Manchester United in the same competition a decade ago.
Last time we saw an ecstatic Mourinho race miles out of his technical area the game was effectively over with Porto landing a dramatic injury time winner.
This time there were crucial minutes left and Mourinho clearly bent the rules to pass on all-important tactical direction to his jubilant players. But that only underlines the brilliance of the Blues inspirational boss, whatever PSG may think. This was him doing everything possible to ensure Chelsea held on to go through on away goals by virtue of a 2-0 home win that made it 3-3 on aggregate.
At the end of a week where pundits have been debating which Merseyside boss is the best in the Premier League, following outstanding seasons so far for Brendan Rogers at Liverpool and Everton’s new talisman Roberto Martinez a global audience witnessed why Mourinho is the No.1.
After securing a fifth successive season in the Champions League semi-finals, this time with Chelsea, the master tactician said it all when he explained his touchline sprint was “not to celebrate but to tell Fernando (Torres) and Demba the changes we had to do because we still had three minutes to play and injury time.”
At times his body language this season has looked beaten and lacking passion. But this was a rejuventated Mourniho back at the top of his game.
Many of us poked fun when he was passed over by Manchester giants United and City and returned to the Bridge in the summer, despite his instance that this is the job he loves. Since then Arsene Wenger has watched his title hopes crumble at Arsenal and David Moyes has underachieved in his first season in succession of Sir Alex Ferguson.
Fergie is the greatest British manager we have ever seen. But Mourinho is still making history and staking his claim to be judged alongside the greats.
Right now he is both the “Special One” and the “Happy One” as TV footage beamed around the world of football will rightly underline.
