2009-10 season was the one that cemented the genius of José Mourinho. He did pretty well at Porto and Chelsea, but the difference is that he conquered the whole universe at Inter Milan by winning the treble —— first time and the only time yet in the history of Italian football. The team he built after departing to Madrid went ahead to win the 2010 World club cup.
José Mourinho made a surprise transfer request in the summer of 2009 as he was trying to build his all-conquering Inter Milan squad. He requested specifically to have the Cameroonian striker Samuel Eto’o who was at that time already having issues with Pep Guardiola at Barcelona.
After the Brazilian international, Maxwell completed the transfer from Inter Milan, Barcelona’s President Joan Laporta confirmed that there was an agreement in principle between Barcelona and Inter Milan for Zlatan Ibrahimović to join the club in exchange for Eto’o and €46 million. After Ibrahimović agreed terms with Barcelona, the club announced Eto’o would travel to Milan for his medical to complete the transfer.
That later proved to be a transfer master stroke by José Mourinho, the shrewd tactician. It was a great foresight, as Eto’o was pivotal to Inter’s attack line where he scored 37 goals in 67 appearances in his 2 highly successful seasons at the club.
This was when Mourihno nicknamed Eto’o ‘a killer’ because of his predatory goal-scoring instincts.
One of the greatest matches in the history of UEFA Champions League was the memorable semifinal head-to-head confrontation between Inter and Barca in this 2009-10 season.
Mourinho’s typical lineups (barring any injury) throughout the season were Caesar, Maicon, Lúcio, Samuel, Pandev, Zanetti, Cambiasso, Sneijder, Motta, Eto’o, Milito, and in the reserves were Chivu, Toldo, Muntari, Stankovic, Balotelli, Córdoba.
This epic semifinal was not only a Barcelona vs Inter clash, it was also a Guardiola vs Mourinho, possession vs pragmatism — it was a semi-final that had everything
At this time, Pep Guardiola’s influence over the preceding decade has been a running theme.
This time however, it’s all about his opponent – “The Translator” returning to the Nou Camp to haunt Barcelona — José Mourinho.
Barcelona defeated Inter Milan 1 – 0 at Nou Camp in this semi-final second leg.
A defeat Mourinho called “the most beautiful defeat of my life”
If one game over the past 20 years explains everything, it’s this one — Pep Guardiola against José Mourinho, possession against pragmatism, an epic meeting of – as many saw it – light and darkness, a sulphurous night of exquisite tension and drama.
After Barca’s victory in the 2009 Champions League final, after another season in which they swept all before them domestically, they were overwhelming favourites to become the first side to retain the Champions League since Milan in 1990.
As the matchday drew near and the pressure mounting on Barca, Mourinho stirred the pot with practised charm. “We are used to seeing these Barca players throw themselves to the floor a lot”, He said.
This was a mind game beyond a mind game, his words aimed less at the Belgian referee Frank De Bleeckere who would take charge of the game than at Barca, hinting at a deviousness and cunning behind the beauty of their football, suggesting they were hypocritical. By full-time he had been proved right.
Mourinho initially named the team that had won the first leg 3 – 1 in San Siro but Goran Pandev was mysteriously injured shortly before kick-off and replaced on the left side of midfield by the Romanian full-back Cristian Chivu. As had always seemed inevitable, his side sat deep as Barca of Guardiola was practically unplayable by any team because of their mesmerising “Tiki Taka”.
Inter had been absorbing the Barça pressure well when, with 27 minutes played, Thiago Motta was sent off. Sergio Busquets feigned injury disgracefully, but equally, Motta had already been booked and did thrust a hand into the midfielder’s face. It probably shouldn’t have been a straight red, but neither was his dismissal unwarranted.
On the touchline, Mourinho grinned in a way that seemed to say, “Look how blatant this is.” But on the pitch, his side were galvanised. The legendary Cameroonian striker, Samuel Eto’o ended up playing as an auxiliary full-back, Diego Milito as a midfielder. Their commitment and effort were supreme. Inter had just 19 per cent possession but they held their shape and Barca struggled to create chances.
Eventually Pique, sent forward as an emergency striker, broke through with six minutes remaining; one more and Barca would have been through on away goals. It seemed that they’d got it a minute into injury-time as Bojan swept the ball into the roof of the net, but De Bleeckere disallowed it for a handball by Yaya Toure in the build-up.
So Inter lost 1-0 but won on 3 – 2 aggregate, and Mourinho set off on delighted charge across the pitch. “It is a style of blood not skill,” he said. “When the moment of leaving everything on the pitch arrives, you don’t leave the skill, you leave the blood. We were a team of heroes. We sweated blood.”
This Inter Milan side went on to beat Bayern, managed by another possession-driven former Barcelona coach in Louis van Gaal, in this Champions League final, and within a few weeks, Mourinho, the man who had toppled Guardiola, had been named manager of Real Madrid and their rivalry entered a new, far more intense, phase.
Mourinho held deep admiration for Samuel Eto’o.
“One of the main reasons why Samuel Eto’o remains the greatest African player of all time is his unshakable mentality—on and off the pitch,” Mourinho said.
José Mourinho described Eto’o as one of the strongest-minded players he ever worked with.
“Before the quarterfinal match against Chelsea, I fought with him every day in training. I told him he wasn’t fit and wouldn’t play. He didn’t respond with words… he responded on the pitch — and scored the winning goal. I couldn’t have done that with a different player with a different profile.”
Eto’o didn’t just play football. He battled, endured, and conquered
He stood tall in every challenge. He delivered when it mattered most. That mental strength is what separates legends from the rest.
References:
- “Samuel Eto’o reveals Jose Mourinho tapped into his Champions League-winning knowledge by asking him to give pre-match speech before 2010 final” By Andrew Richardson for The Sun, 27 April 2017
- “When Mourinho ghosted Eto’o to get best out of him”. By Tom Reynolds for BBC Sport, 15 April 2025
- “The five greatest champions league matches of this century” By Jonathan Wilson, a British journalist. July 2021
- “Laporta announces agreement in principle with Inter Milan” By Vanessa Forns, 17 July 2009
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