Jose: I cheated to ensure we got right result

In Porto this summer for Euro 2004, it was easy to tell how much Jose Mourinho was going to be missed. Everyone had a favourite tale about him. Indeed, everyone seemed to feel it was a badge of honour just to claim that they knew him. He was spoken of in a manner akin to reverence.

Now he's gone, having taken the Chelsea rouble, you can just sense the resignation there. It tells you much about the quality of his brand of inspiration that when you ask Porto supporters why they feel they have only a minimal chance of retaining their Champions League title, they explain their lack of confidence is down less to a wholesale change of players than to the loss of this astounding conductor.

As the Premiership still wrestles to decide what to make of Mourinho's early assaults on the English game, with some hailing him as a breath of fresh air, others unimpressed with his outspoken manner, it is instructive to remember why those "Portistas" who will be descending on Stamford Bridge for tomorrow's Champions League group match fear he can do no wrong.

For Mourinho's record in Europe with them was matchless. Two competitions, the UEFA Cup in 2003 and the Champions League in 2004, and two triumphs. Sides beaten along the way? Panathinaikos, Lazio, Lens, Marseille, Manchester United, Deportivo La Coruna, Lyon, Monaco (not to mention a draw in the Bernabeu when Real Madrid actually had a team). Overall record? Played 26, won 15, drawn 7, lost just four.

Two league titles and a domestic Cup win were the adornments but, for Mourinho, Europe has been the be all and end all. Those two campaigns displayed the hallmarks of the generalship we now see at Chelsea - thorough organisation, rigorous discipline in midfield and tightness at the back.

Yet they also featured the 'x' factors - Mourinho's almost manic determination to win at all costs and his ability to be the innovator when needs must. Both were seen to best effect in the one European tie which saw the brilliant best - and infuriating worst - of the man.

In April 2003, Lazio visited Porto in the first leg of their UEFA Cup semi-final. Those who think his Chelsea side may prove to be just too pragmatic and unlovely for their liking should remember what a side fashioned in Mourinho's image is capable of. That night, Porto dazzled to sweep into a 4-1 lead in what was probably the signature triumph of his reign.

Yet the dying minutes saw an episode which illustrated Mourinho's ruthlessness. Describing it in his authorised biography, a massive best-seller in Portugal, he explained: "A minute or two before the final whistle, with Lazio counter-attacking, the ball went out of play on the touchline.