Mourinho: Italy my 'natural habitat'

By Football Italia staff

Jose Mourinho admits Italy were ‘my natural habitat’ and claims Inter ‘could’ve played for five hours and Barcelona would never have won’ in 2010.

Mourinho remains the only Coach to win a Treble with an Italian team, that coming during the 2009-10 campaign when he was in charge of Inter.

“I returned to London after Madrid: now I’m at a starting point, my next spell won’t be in the Premier League,” he told DAZN.

“Trophies are my guarantee, even against those who do their utmost to forget that. My last trophy was the Europa League, it was only a year ago.

“The last Final I played was eight months ago, but it’s in the past now: I’m preparing for the future.

“It’s not been a waste of time: when you work 18 years without stopping, there’s no time to stop or think about mistakes. I think these months without working have been useful.

“At Inter I found an incredible family that made me happy every day. My connection with the fans was the fruit of our results: when you win you’re happy.

“We won things and created empathy, which is still there: in London I still find interisti who hug me.”

The Nerazzurri beat Barca - then considered the best team in Europe - over two legs to reach the Champions League Final...

“Italy were my natural habitat: when I work in England,” explained the Portuguese.

“I have to be different from my nature, while in Italy the way football is experienced every day is incredible. It’s very Latin.

“Inter are a family. Someone’s still a player, someone’s still a Coach, someone’s still there. It’s a permanent holiday: but we’re there, as if it were yesterday.

“It’s not possible to do something special if it’s just the Coach: we had a special group and a special family.

“They brought out the best in me. I helped many of them get to the top, but many of them succeeded with me.

“What I said before the Barcelona tie came from my heart: when I won my first Champions League, my son was four years old and that season he told me he wanted to win the Champions League again so he could remember it.

“I talked about it with the players. We were talking about everyone’s children: maybe it was the last chance for them to win it.

“We put in that feeling where we could’ve played for five hours and Barcelona would never have won.”

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