Mourinho’s Euro woes add to pressure
London, UK - Jose Mourinho is facing an unsettling new reality in the Champions League as Manchester United launch its campaign at Young Boys of Bern on Wednesday.
Mourinho was once the Champions League's pre-eminent force, winning the tournament twice and making the latter stages virtually every year.
But it is four years since the Portuguese coach last managed a victory in the knockout stages of Europe's elite club competition. In that time, the 55 year old has been surpassed by Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp, Atletico Madrid's Diego Simeone and former Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane as the tournament's most innovative and successful coaches.
In Mourinho's past ten knockout games with United and Chelsea in the Champions League he has just two wins and five draws - his last away victory in the knockout stages came at United's expense in 2013 when he was still at Real Madrid.
Mourinho's decline as a Champions League force mirrors the fading challenge of United, who reached three finals in four seasons from 2008 but has struggled to make an impact since.
The club is preparing for the match against the Swiss champion in Bern after an unsettling start to the season but might feel it has turned a corner after a hard-fought 2-1 win against Watford in the English Premier League.
Mourinho, in an upbeat mood after Saturday's second straight win, will be desperate to erase the memory of United's spineless last-16 exit against Sevilla last season, during which frustrated United fans chanted "attack, attack, attack" at their own players.
The limp defeat was a far cry from the days when free-flowing United sides won two European Cups under Alex Ferguson and regularly reached the sharp end of the tournament.