Gijón / Xixón
—  Municipality  —
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Gijon
Gijón / Xixón Location in Spain
Coordinates: 43°32′N 5°42′W / 43.533°N 5.7°W / 43.533; -5.7Coordinates: 43°32′N 5°42′W / 43.533°N 5.7°W / 43.533; -5.7
Country	Spain
Autonomous community	Asturias
Province	Asturias
Comarca	Gijón
Judicial district	Gijón
Founded	5th century BC (Noega, the first settlement on record)
Government
• Mayor	Carmen Moriyón Entrialgo (2011) (FAC)
Area
• Total	181.6 km2 (70.1 sq mi)
Elevation	3 m (10 ft)
Highest elevation	737 m (2,418 ft)
Lowest elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Population (2008)
• Total	275,699
• Density	1,500/km2 (3,900/sq mi)
Demonym	Castillian: Gijonés/sa Asturian: Xixonés/sa
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	33201 -33212
Official language(s)
Website	Official website

Gijón (Spanish pronunciation: [xiˈxon]; Asturian: Xixón [ʃiˈʃon]), officially Gijón / Xixón,^[1] is a coastal industrial city and a municipality in the autonomous community of Asturias in Spain. Early mediaeval texts mention it as "Gigia".

Geography[link]

The city is situated on the coast of central Asturias, from sea level to an altitude of 513 metres at Picu Samartín and 672 metres at Peña de los Cuatro Jueces, bordered on the West by Carreño, the East by Villaviciosa, and to the South by Siero and Llanera

The city is situated along the Asturian coast and is distinguished by the peninsula of Cimadevilla (the original settlement) which separates the beach of San Lorenzo and adjacent neighborhoods to the east from the beaches of Poniente and Arbeyal, the shipyards, and the recreational port and the Port of El Musel to the west. It is close to the other main Asturian cities, Oviedo and Avilés.

Districts[link]

Gijón / Xixón districts

As a municipality, Gijón / Xixón is divided in 26 districts or parishes:

1. Serín 2. San Andrés de los Tacones 3. Fresno 4. Puao 5. Veriña 6. Jove / Xove 7. Gijón / Xixón 8. Somió 9. Cabueñes 10. Deva 11. Caldones 12. Valdornón 13. Fano 14. Llavandera 15. Samartín de Güerces 16. Leorio / Llorio 17. La Pedrera 18. Ruedes 19. L'Abadía Cenero 20. Porceyo 21. Tremañes 22. Roces 23. Granda 24. Castiello Bernueces 25. Vega 26. Santurio^[2]

Gijón / Xixón city (numbered 7) is divided in four big areas (Centre, East, West and South) with several neighbourhoods within each one (Cimadevilla / Cimavilla, La Calzada, El Natahoyo, Pumarín, Viesques, El Llano, etc.)

Transport[link]

The A-66 motorway (Ruta de La Plata), A-8 (Autopista del Cantábrico) and the AS-1 (Autovía Minera) are the main highway accesses. By train, Gijón has daily service to Madrid, Alicante, Zaragoza, and Barcelona. Cruise ships call at El Musel, and the Airport of Asturias is located in the not far away municipality of Castrillón with daily flights to major Spanish and European cities.

A subway system, called Metrotren, is currently under construction to improve the public transport in Gijón, along with a plan to redesign the railway network entering the town, so as to accommodate for the arrival of AVE high speed rail, expected in 2015, from Madrid. There are 22 regular lines of bus and 4 "night lines" of bus called "Buho" and special lines in special events like the Feria Internacional de Muestras de Gijon (Gijon International Exposition Fair) or the Semana Negra (literally Black Week)[2], the city's famous one-week Festival based on Hardboiled literature.

Culture[link]

The bronze copy of the statue "Augustus of Prima Porta" at San Lorenzo beach.

• During the early years of the 19th century the, then very small, town of Gijón was best known for its college or high-school known as the "Real Instituto Asturiano" founded by Jovellanos. ^[3]

• Gijón has a wide range of museum options. The Museo Internacional de la Gaita (International Bagpipe Museum) contains bagpipes from around the world, focusing on the Asturian musical heritage and bagpipes. There are also several other museums:

• Revillagigedo Palace and Museum (At Marqués square, near the City Hall)
• Nicanor Piñole Museum (An art museum)
• Evaristo Valle Museum (Local painter museum placed in a mansion at the outskirts)
• Museo del Ferrocarril (Railroad Museum, near Poniente Beach)
• Juan Barjola Museum (A museum about a local painter, also interested in avant-garde art)
• LABoral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial (An exhibition centre for contemporary art, science, technology and advanced visual industries)

• The City Hall's sports and culture programs for citizens is wide, including the innovative Abierto Hasta el Amanecer (literally Open Till Dawn) nocturnal program, which tries to involve teens in cultural and sporting activities as an alternative to weekend nightlife.

• Gijon has 13 libraries in its Cultural City Centers, which feature a wide network of swimming pools and gyms.

Upper front view of the San Lorenzo Church

Revillagigedo Palace

University Laboral of Gijón, as seen from the tower of the same university.

Sports[link]

Gijón's professional football team, Sporting de Gijón, plays in the Spanish League and is presently in the first division. American football and baseball are played in Gijón at top levels, with the Gijón Mariners and El Llano BC competing in the most important Spanish leagues of those sports.

In women's sport, Gijón Hockey Club is one of the most important rink hockey teams in Europe.

There is also a sports club in Gijón with more than 28,000 members. It's Real Grupo de Cultura Covadonga and this is the biggest club in Gijón.

Not far from Gijón, there are several ski resorts in Asturias, the main being Valgrande-Pajares.

Gijón has 13 public sport centers (in Spanish: Centros Municipales Integrados) with swimming pools, gyms and saunas. Swimming pools are free for children up to age 14.

The city's marina houses an important fleet of yachts and is the base for many water sports, being Royal Astur Yacht Club the most important yacht club in town.

Economy[link]

For much of the twentieth century the town was heavily dependent on mature heavy industries, but at the end of the Franco era, tertiary sector employment began to expand rapidly along with the city's population which by 2007 stood officially at 277,897 for Gijón proper, and approximately 380,000 for the total Gijón agglomeration.

The port is at the centre of many of the local businesses. Apart from directly port related activities, the economy is based on tourism, steel (Arcelor), other metallurgy, livestock rearing and fisheries.

Climate[link]

Gijón has an humid oceanic climate, with mild temperatures and high humidity throughout the year. The summers are warm, with both overcast and sunny days common, whilst winters are rainy but much milder than most places so far north; frosts are very rare and never severe.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gijón

• Gijon Municipality
• Official Touristic website of Gijón
• Non-official Website of Gijón Basket (professional basketball team)
• Official Toponyms – At City Council official website.
• Official Toponyms: Laws – BOPA Nº 229 – Martes, 3 de octubre de 2006 & DECRETO 105/2006, de 20 de septiembre (BOPA Errata corrections)
• Official site Sporting de Gijon
• LABoral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial

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José Mourinho

Personal information
Full name	José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix
Date of birth	(1963-01-26) 26 January 1963 (age 49)
Place of birth	Setúbal, Portugal
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Playing position	Central midfielder
Club information
Current club	Real Madrid (manager)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1980–1982	Rio Ave	16	(2)
1982–1983	Belenenses	16	(2)
1983–1985	Sesimbra	35	(1)
1985–1987	Comércio e Indústria	27	(8)
Total		94	(13)
Teams managed
2000	Benfica
2001–2002	União de Leiria
2002–2004	Porto
2004–2007	Chelsea
2008–2010	Internazionale
2010–	Real Madrid
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix, OIH, or simply José Mourinho (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʒuˈzɛ moˈɾiɲu]; born 26 January 1963) is a Portuguese football manager, currently the head coach of Real Madrid. He is commonly known as "The Special One".^[2] Mourinho is regarded by some players, coaches, and critics as one of the best football coaches of all time.^[3][4][5][6] Mourinho started out as a player and eventually switched to management. After working as a physical education teacher and spells working as a youth team coach, a scout, and an assistant manager in the early 1990s, he became an interpreter for Sir Bobby Robson. He worked with Robson at Sporting Lisbon and Porto in Portugal, and Barcelona in Spain. He remained at the Catalonian club after Robson's departure and worked with his successor Louis van Gaal.

He began focusing on coaching and impressed with brief but successful managerial periods at Benfica and União de Leiria, taking the latter to their highest ever league finish. He returned to Porto in early 2002 as head coach, winning the Primeira Liga, Taça de Portugal, and UEFA Cup in 2003. In the next season Mourinho guided the team to victory in the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, to the top of the league for a second time, and won the highest honour in European club football, the UEFA Champions League. Mourinho moved to Chelsea the following year and won the Premier League title, the club's first league title in 50 years, and the League Cup in his first season season. In his second year Chelsea retained the Premier League and in 2006-07 he took the club to an FA Cup and League Cup double, though they were league runners-up. He often courted controversy for his outspokenness, but his victories at Chelsea and Porto established him as one of the world's top football managers. Mourinho left Chelsea in September 2007, amidst reports of a rift with club owner Roman Abramovich.^[7]

In 2008 he moved to Italy's Serie A, signing a three-year contract with Internazionale. Within three months he had won his first Italian honour, the Supercoppa Italiana, and completed the season by winning the Serie A league title. Mourinho followed the next season by winning the first treble in Italian history, the Serie A league title, Coppa Italia, and the UEFA Champions League, the first time Inter had won in forty-five years, thus becoming the third manager in football history to win two UEFA Champions League with two different teams, after Ernst Happel and Ottmar Hitzfeld.^[8] He won the first ever FIFA Ballon d'Or Best Coach Award in 2010. He then signed with Real Madrid in 2010, winning the Copa del Rey in his first season. The following year he won the La Liga and became the fourth coach, after Tomislav Ivić, Ernst Happel, and Giovanni Trapattoni, to have won league titles in at least four different countries: Portugal, England, Italy, and Spain,^[9] also becoming the first manager to win the traditional top three European league championships.^[10]

Early life and career[link]

Formative years and education[link]

José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix was born in 1963 to a large middle-class family in Setúbal, Portugal, the son of José Manuel Mourinho Félix, who was known by the name Félix Mourinho, and wife Maria Júlia Carrajola dos Santos.^[11] His father played football professionally for Os Belenenses and Vitória de Setúbal, earning one cap for Portugal in the course of his career. His mother was a primary school teacher from an affluent background;^[12] her uncle funded the construction of the Vitória de Setúbal football stadium. The fall of António de Oliveira Salazar's Estado Novo regime in April 1974, however, led to the family losing all but a single property in nearby Palmela.^[13]

From an early age, football was a major part of Mourinho's life. Footballing commitments in Porto and Lisbon meant that Félix was often separated from his son. As a teenager, Mourinho travelled to attend his father's weekend matches and when his father had became a coach, Mourinho began observing training sessions and scouting opposing teams.^[14] Mourinho wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father by becoming a footballer and so he joined the Belenenses youth team. Graduating to the senior level, he played at Rio Ave (where his father was coach), Belenenses, and Sesimbra. He lacked the requisite pace and power to become a professional and chose to focus on becoming a football coach instead.^[12][15][16]

His mother enrolled him in a business school, Mourinho dropped out on his first day, deciding he would rather focus on sport, and chose to attend the Instituto Superior de Educação Física (ISEF), Technical University of Lisbon, to study sports science.^[13] He taught physical education at various schools and after five years, he had earned his diploma, receiving consistently good marks throughout the course.^[14] After attending coaching courses held by the English and Scottish Football Associations, former Scotland manager Andy Roxburgh took note of the young Portuguese's drive and attention to detail.^[17] Mourinho sought to redefine the role of coach in football by mixing coaching theory with motivational and psychological techniques.^[12]

Entering management[link]

After leaving his job as a school coach, Mourinho looked for paths into professional management in his hometown and became youth team coach at Vitória de Setúbal in the early 1990s. Working his way up the ladder, he accepted the position of assistant manager at Estrela da Amadora,^[17] then was a scout at Ovarense. Mourinho yearned for greater challenges and in 1992 an opportunity arose to work as a translator for a top foreign coach. Sir Bobby Robson had been appointed as the new manager of Lisbon club Sporting Clube de Portugal and the Englishman required a local coach with a good command of English to work as his interpreter.^[15]

Initially a step away from management, Mourinho began discussing tactics and coaching with Robson in his interpreting role.^[15] Robson was sacked by Sporting in December 1993, but Portuguese rivals FC Porto appointed him as their head coach and Mourinho moved with him, continuing to coach and interpret for players at the new club.^[17] After two years at Porto the duo moved again, switching to FC Barcelona in 1996, where he learnt Catalan for the new challenge.^[18] Mourinho and his family moved to Barcelona and he gradually became a prominent figure of Barcelona's staff by translating at press conferences, planning practice sessions, and helping players through tactical advice and analyses of the opposition. Robson and Mourinho's styles complemented each other: the Englishman favoured an attacking style, while Mourinho covered defensive options, and the Portuguese's love of planning and training combined with Robson's direct man-management. The partnership was fruitful and Barcelona finished the season with the European Cup Winners' Cup. Robson moved club the following season but this time Mourinho did not follow as Barcelona were keen to retain him as assistant manager.^[17] The two remained good friends and Mourinho later reflected on the effect Robson had had upon him:

One of the most important things I learnt from Bobby Robson is that when you win, you shouldn't assume you are the team, and when you lose, you shouldn't think you are rubbish.^[17]

He began working with Robson's successor, Louis van Gaal, and he learnt much from the Dutchman's conscientious style. Both assistant and head coach combined their studious approach to the game and Barcelona won La Liga twice in van Gaal's first two years as coach.^[17] Van Gaal saw that his number two had the promise to be more than a skilled assistant. He let Mourinho develop his own independent coaching style and entrusted him with the coaching duties of FC Barcelona B.^[18] Van Gaal also let Mourinho take charge of the first team (acting as Mourinho's assistant himself) for certain trophies, like the Copa Catalunya, which Mourinho won in 2000.^[19]

Coaching career[link]

Benfica and Leiria[link]

The chance to become a top-tier manager arrived in September 2000 when Mourinho moved up from his role as assistant coach at Lisbon side Benfica to replace head coach Jupp Heynckes after the fourth week of the Primeira Liga.^[18] The Benfica hierarchy wanted to appoint Jesualdo Ferreira as the new assistant coach, but Mourinho refused and picked Carlos Mozer, a retired Benfica defender, as his right-hand man instead.^[20]

When I spoke with van Gaal about going back to Portugal to be an assistant at Benfica, he said: "No, don't go. Tell Benfica if they want a first-team coach you will go; if they want an assistant you will stay."^[21]

Mourinho was highly critical of Ferreira, whom he had first encountered as his teacher at ISEF and later lambasted the veteran coach by stating, "This could be the story of a donkey who worked for 30 years but never became a horse."^[22] Only weeks after being given the job at Benfica, Mourinho's mentor, Sir Bobby Robson, offered him the assistant manager's role at Newcastle United. Such was Robson's desperation for Mourinho to join him he offered to step down after two years in charge and hand over the reins to Mourinho. Mourinho turned the offer down and said he knew Robson would never step down at the club he loved.^[23]

Mourinho and Mozer proved a popular combination, enjoying a 3–0 win against fierce rivals Sporting in December.^[24][25] Their reign, however, appeared to be at risk after Benfica's election turned against club president João Vale e Azevedo, and the newly-elected Manuel Vilarinho said that he would instate ex-Benfica player Toni as his new coach.^[18] Although Vilarinho had no intention of firing him immediately, Mourinho used the victory over Sporting to test the president's loyalty and he asked for a contract extension.^[24] Vilarinho refused the demand and Mourinho resigned from his position immediately. He left the club on 5 December 2000 after just nine league games in charge.^[26] Upon later reflection, Vilarinho rued his poor judgement and expressed his frustration at losing Mourinho:

[Put me] back then [and] I would do exactly the opposite: I would extend his contract. Only later I realised that one's personality and pride cannot be put before the interest of the institution we serve.^[24]

Mourinho found a new managerial post in April 2001 with União de Leiria, whom he took to their highest-ever league finish of fifth place after joining the club with seven games left to be played.^[27] During his second season at União de Leiria, the team was on a run contesting places as high as third and fourth by January. Mourinho's successes at Leiria did not go unrecognised and he caught the attention of larger Portuguese clubs.^[18]

Porto[link]

UEFA Champions League, won with Porto and Inter

He was then hand-picked in January 2002 by FC Porto to replace Octávio Machado. Mourinho guided the team to third place that year after a strong 15-game run (W–D–L: 11–2–2) and gave the promise of "making Porto champions next year."

He quickly identified several key players whom he saw as the backbone of what he believed would be a perfect Porto team: Vítor Baía, Ricardo Carvalho, Costinha, Deco, Dmitri Alenichev, and Hélder Postiga. He recalled captain Jorge Costa after a six-month loan to Charlton Athletic. The signings from other clubs included Nuno Valente and Derlei from União de Leiria; Paulo Ferreira from Vitória de Setúbal; Pedro Emanuel from Boavista; and Edgaras Jankauskas and Maniche, who both had been out of contract at Benfica.

During the pre-season, Mourinho put detailed reports of the team training on the club website. The reports were filled with formal vocabulary, as, for instance, he referred to a 20 km jog as an extended aerobic exercise. While they attracted some scorn for the pretentiousness, others praised the innovation and the application of a more scientific approach to the training methods practised in Portugal. One of the key aspects in Mourinho-era Porto was his quick wit and the pressuring play, which started at the offensive line, dubbed pressão alta ("high pressure"). The physical and combative abilities of the teams' defenders and midfielders allowed Porto to apply pressure from the offensive lines and forced opponents either to concede the ball or try longer, uncertain passes.

In 2003, Mourinho won his first Primeira Liga with a 27–5–2 record, 11 points clear of Benfica, the team he quit two years earlier. The total of 86 points out of the possible maximum of 102 was a Portuguese record since the rule of three points per win was introduced. Mourinho also won the Portuguese Cup (against former club Leiria) and the UEFA Cup final against Celtic, both in May 2003.

The following season witnessed further successes: he led Porto to victory in the one-match Portuguese SuperCup, beating Leiria 1–0. They lost, however, the UEFA Super Cup 1–0 to AC Milan, with Andriy Shevchenko scoring the solitary goal. The team was dominant in the Primeira Liga and they finished the season with a perfect home record, an eight-point advantage, and an unbeaten run that only ended against Gil Vicente; they secured the title five weeks before the end of the season. Porto lost the Portuguese Cup final to Benfica in May 2004, but two weeks later, Mourinho won a greater prize: the UEFA Champions League, with a 3–0 win over AS Monaco in Germany. The club had eliminated Manchester United, Olympique Lyonnais, and Deportivo La Coruña and their sole defeat of the competition came against Real Madrid in the group round.

Mourinho's win over Manchester United foreshadowed a move to the Premier League, where he would enjoy a competitive relationship with United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.^[28] In the first leg between United and Porto, Ferguson confronted Mourinho after Roy Keane received a red card for stamping on Vitor Baia.^[29] In the second leg, Porto were on the verge of an away goals defeat when Costinha scored a goal with only little more than thirty seconds left for the official 90 minutes time, to win the tie and Mourinho celebrated the goal flamboyantly. As a response to his European and domestic success, Mourinho was linked with several top European clubs, including Liverpool, Real Madrid, and Chelsea. Mourinho publicly stated his preference for the Liverpool job over the Chelsea one:

Liverpool are a team that interests everyone and Chelsea does not interest me so much because it is a new project with lots of money invested in it. I think it is a project which, if the club fail to win everything, then [Roman] Abramovich could retire and take the money out of the club. It's an uncertain project. It is interesting for a coach to have the money to hire quality players but you never know if a project like this will bring success.^[30]

Liverpool offered their managerial position to Spanish coach Rafael Benítez and Mourinho instead accepted a large offer from Roman Abramovich and pledged his immediate future to Chelsea.^[30]

Chelsea[link]

Mourinho at Chelsea

Mourinho moved to Chelsea in June 2004, becoming one of the highest paid managers in football with a salary of £4.2 million a year, subsequently raised in 2005 to £5.2 million.^[31] In a press conference upon joining the English side, Mourinho said, "Please don't call me arrogant, but I'm European champion and I think I'm a special one," which resulted in the media dubbing him "The Special One".^[32]

Mourinho recruited his backroom staff from Porto, consisting of assistant manager Baltemar Brito, fitness coach Rui Faria, chief scout André Villas-Boas, and goalkeeping coach Silvino Louro. He retained the services of Steve Clarke, a long-serving former player at Chelsea, who had also performed an assistant managerial-type role under previous managers at the club. In terms of spending, Mourinho carried on where his predecessor Claudio Ranieri left off, as, bankrolled by Roman Abramovich, he spent in excess of £70 million in transfer fees on players such as Tiago (£10 million) from Benfica, Michael Essien (£24.4 million) from Olympique Lyonnais, Didier Drogba (£24 million) from Olympique de Marseille, Mateja Kežman (£5.4 million) from PSV, and Porto pair Ricardo Carvalho (£19.8 million) and Paulo Ferreira (£13.3 million).

Under Mourinho, Chelsea built on the potential developed in the previous season. By early December, they were at the top of the Premier League table and had reached the knock-out stages of the Champions League. He secured his first trophy by winning the League Cup against Liverpool 3–2 (AET) in Cardiff. Towards the end of the match, Mourinho was escorted from the touchline after putting his finger to his mouth in the direction of Liverpool fans, as a response to taunts directed towards him whilst Liverpool were leading, before the equalising goal.

The club added more trophies as they secured their first top-flight domestic title in 50 years, setting a string of English football records in the process, including the most points ever achieved in the Premier League (95), and the fewest goals conceded (15). He failed, however, to achieve back-to-back Champions League successes when Chelsea were knocked out of the competition by a controversial goal in the semi-finals by eventual winners Liverpool.^[33]

Chelsea started the next season well. They defeated Arsenal 2–1 to win the FA Community Shield, and topped the Premier League from the first weekend of the 2005–06 season. Chelsea beat rivals Manchester United 3–0 to win their second consecutive Premiership title and Mourinho's fourth domestic title in a row. After the presentation of his championship medal, Mourinho threw his medal and blazer into the crowd. He was awarded a second medal within minutes which he also threw into the crowd.

The signing of Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko in the summer of 2006 for a club record fee would also prove to be a point of contention between Mourinho and Abramovich. Shevchenko, at the time of his signing, was one of the most highly regarded strikers in Europe during his time with Milan, where he won the Champions League, Scudetto, and Ballon d'Or awards in his seven years in Milan. Chelsea had attempted to sign Shevchenko in the preceding two years but Milan rebuffed Abramovich's interest in him. Shevchenko's first season at Chelsea was viewed as a major disappointment by the Chelsea fans as he only scored four league goals and 14 in all competitions. Shevchenko's strike partner, Didier Drogba, had the highest scoring season of his career that year and this led Shevchenko to be dropped from the starting line-up towards the end of the season by Mourinho. Notably, in the Champions League match at Anfield, Shevchenko was not even included on the bench. Abramovich's insistence on Mourinho playing the Ukrainian was widely viewed as a further source of friction between the two men. Shevchenko's signing was not the only one for Chelsea, however, as German captain Michael Ballack was also signed to strengthen the midfield on free agent from Bayern Munich. The Icelandic striker Eiður Guðjohnsen, an important player for Chelsea under Ranieri and Mourinho, departed the club for FC Barcelona.

The 2006–07 season saw growing media speculation that Mourinho would leave the club at the season's conclusion, due to alleged poor relations with owner Roman Abramovich and a power struggle with sporting director Frank Arnesen and Abramovich advisor Piet de Visser. Mourinho later cleared doubts regarding his future at Stamford Bridge, stating that there would only be two ways for him to leave Chelsea: if Chelsea were not to offer him a new contract in June 2010, and if Chelsea were to sack him.^[34] He then launched an ambitious campaign for all four trophies available with the aim of becoming the first club in English football to complete "the quadruple".

Despite the unrest, Chelsea, under Mourinho, won the League Cup again by defeating Arsenal FC in the final at the Millennium Stadium. The possibility, however, of the quadruple was brought to an end on 1 May 2007 when Liverpool eliminated Chelsea from the UEFA Champions League on penalties at Anfield, following a 1–1 aggregate draw. Days later, Chelsea drew 1–1 with Arsenal FC at the Emirates Stadium on 6 May 2007 in a league match, which secured the Premier League title for Manchester United. This was Mourinho's first season without a league title win in five years. Mourinho led Chelsea to a 1–0 victory against Manchester United in the 2007 FA Cup Final, winning in the first final to be played at the new Wembley Stadium. This was his first FA Cup win which meant that he had won every domestic trophy available to a Premier League manager. There was, however, to be further friction between himself and Abramovich when Avram Grant was appointed as Director of Football, despite objections from Mourinho. Grant's position was further enhanced by being given a seat on the board. In spite of these tensions, the 2007–08 transfer season would see the departure of Dutch winger Arjen Robben to Real Madrid and French midfielder Florent Malouda moved to Chelsea. Shevchenko was linked with a return to Milan but he remained at Chelsea for another year.

In the first match of the 2007–08 season, Chelsea beat Birmingham City 3–2 to set a new record of 64 consecutive home league matches without defeat, surpassing the record set by Liverpool between 1978 and 1981.^[35] Despite this feat, Chelsea's start to the 2007–08 season was not as successful as previous starts. The team lost at Aston Villa and followed this with a goalless draw at home to Blackburn Rovers. Their opening game in the UEFA Champions League saw them only manage a 1–1 home draw against the Norwegian team Rosenborg BK in front of an almost half-empty stadium. Shevchenko scored Chelsea's only goal in that match.

Mourinho unexpectedly left Chelsea on 20 September 2007 "by mutual consent," although there had been a series of disagreements with Chairman Roman Abramovich.^[7] The Chelsea board held an emergency meeting and decided it was time to part with their manager. Mourinho left as the most successful manager in Chelsea's history, having won six trophies for the club in three years. He was also undefeated in all home league games. Avram Grant succeeded José Mourinho as Chelsea manager but failed to win any trophies in his year in charge, although he reached the final of the Champions League and League Cup. Grant's Chelsea also finished second in the Premier League.

Internazionale[link]

Mourinho at press conference.

Mourinho in Moscow, during a 2010 Champions League fixture

On 2 June 2008, Mourinho was appointed the successor of Roberto Mancini at Internazionale on a three-year contract, and brought along with him much of his backroom staff who had served him at both Chelsea and Porto.^[36][37] He chose Giuseppe Baresi, a former Inter player and ex-head coach of their youth academy, as his assistant.^[38] He spoke solely in Italian in his first press conference as Inter boss, claiming to have learnt it "in three weeks."^[39] Mourinho stated that he only intended to make a few major signings in the summer.^[40] By the end of the transfer window, he had brought three new players to the side: Brazilian winger Mancini (€13 million),^[41][42] Ghanaian midfielder Sulley Muntari for reported €14 million,^[43] and Portuguese winger Ricardo Quaresma for a cash/player exchange fee of €18.6 million plus young Portuguese midfielder Pelé.^[44][45]

In his first season as Inter head coach, Mourinho won the Italian SuperCup, beating Roma on penalties,^[46] and finished top of Serie A. Inter, however, were eliminated 2–0 on aggregate by Manchester United in the first knock-out round of the UEFA Champions League, and he also failed to win the Coppa Italia, being defeated 3–1 on aggregate by Sampdoria in the semi-finals.^[47] As UEFA was beginning to push the larger clubs in top leagues to play more homegrown players, Mourinho regularly played 18-year-old Italian forward Mario Balotelli and promoted academy defender Davide Santon to the first team permanently, installing an Italian contingent into a team previously composed of mostly foreign players. Both teenagers played a part in the Scudetto-winning season and played enough games to earn their first senior trophy.

Despite his domestic successes in winning the Scudetto by a ten point margin, Jose Mourinho's first season in Italy was viewed as disappointing by some Inter fans as they failed to improve on the performances of his predecessor Roberto Mancini in the Champions League. Inter put in a series of lacklustre group stage performances that included a shock 1–0 home loss to Panathinaikos and an away draw with Cypriot minnows Anorthosis. They qualified, however, for the knockout stages of the Champions League but failed to make it to the quarter-finals after being defeated by Manchester United.

Mourinho also caused immediate ripples in Italian football through his controversial relationships with the Italian press and media, and feuds with major Serie A coaches such as Carlo Ancelotti, then of AC Milan, Luciano Spalletti of Roma, and Claudio Ranieri of Juventus. At a press conference in March 2009, he insulted the first two rivals by claiming they would end the season with no honours – and accused the Italian sport journalists of "intellectual prostitution" on their behalf.^[48] This rant promptly became very popular in Italy, especially regarding the "zero titles" quote used by Mourinho, and incorrectly pronounced by him as zeru tituli (in correct Italian it would have been zero titoli), which was later extensively referred to by football journalists in Italy. It also became the title's catchphrase used by fans to celebrate Inter's 17th scudetto later that season.^[49][50] The catchphrase was even used by Nike to present the celebration shirts for Inter's Serie A title.^[51] After the Coppa Italia final in May, fans of Roma's cross-town rivals Lazio, the new Coppa Italia winners, wore shirts with Io campione, tu zero titoli ("I'm a champion, you have no honours") on it,^[52] quoting Mourinho's "zeru tituli" statement.